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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

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MEMOIRS 


OF  THE 


INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS 


OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


U' 


EDITED  BY 

C.  STANILAND  WAKE, 

ON   BEHALF  OF 

THE   PUBLICATION    COMMITTEE. 


CHICAGO: 

THE  SCHULTE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 
1S94 


Q:hl3 


COPYRIGHT,   1894, 
BY   THE  SCHULTE   PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


gyb/  Things,  hut  (Men. 

THE    WORLD'S    CONGRESS    AUXILIARY 

OF   THE 

WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION  OF  1893. 

President, 
CHARLES  C.  BONNEY. 

yice- President,  Treasurer, 

THOMAS  B.  BRYAN.  LYMAN  J.  GAGE. 

Secretaries, 
BENJ.  BUTTERWORTH.     CLARENCE  E.  YOUNG. 


Not  ^Matter,  but  zMind. 


The  Woman's  Branch  of  the  Auxiliary. 

President,  Vice-President, 

MRS.  POTTER  PALMER.  MRS.  CHAS.  HENROTIN. 


(▼) 


THE    INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS    OF   ANTHROPOLOGY, 

CHICAGO, 
August  2S  to  September  2,  1893. 


LOCAL  COMMITTEE  OF  ORGANIZATION. 

F.  W.   PUTNAM,  Chairman.         C.  STANILAND  WAKE,  Secretary. 

EDWARD  E.  AVER,  H.  W.  BECKWITH, 

JAMES  W.  ELLSWORTH,  FREDERICK  STARR, 

STEPHEN  D.  PEET. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Vresident, 
DANIEL  G.  BRINTON, 

Secretary, 
FRANZ  BOAS. 

W.  H.  HOLMES, 
Representative  of  American  Association  for  Adv.  of  Science. 

W.  W.  NEWELL, 
Representative  of  American  Folk-Lore  Society. 

OTIS  T.  MASON, 
Representative  of  Anthropological  Society  of  Washington. 

ALICE  C.  FLETCHER, 
Representative  of  the  Women's  Anthropological  Society. 

LOUIS  A.  LaGARDE, 
Representative  of  United  States  Army  Medical  Museum. 

And  the  Presidents  and  Secretaries  of  the  Sections  of  the  Congress. 

PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE. 

DANIEL  G.  BRINTON. 
Chairman. 

FRANZ  BOAS,     C.  STANILAND  WAKE, 
Secretaries. 

W.  H.  HOLMES,         F.  W.  PUTNAM. 

(vi) 


PREFACE. 


THE  International  Congress  of  Anthropology  formed  one  of  the 
series  of  Congresses  held  at  Chicago,  in  the  year  1893,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition.  To  give  it  a  fully  representative  character, 
however,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  enlist  in  the  work  of  the  Con- 
gress the  co-operation  of  the  leading  scientific  societies  of  the  United 
States,  interested  in  the  study  of  Anthropology.  With  this  object, 
in  addition  to  the  local  Committee  of  Organization,  an  Executive 
Committee  was  appointed,  the  members  of  which  represented,  not 
only  the  Congress  Auxiliary,  but  also  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  the  American  Folk-lore  Society,  the 
Anthropological  Society  of  Washington,  the  Women's  Anthropological 
Society,  and  the  United  States  Army  Medical  Museum. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  Anthropology,  under  the 
presidency  of  Dr.  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  was  held  August  28th,  1893, 
at  the  Memorial  Art  Institute,  Chicago,  after  addresses  of  welcome  had 
been  made  by  the  Honorable  Charles  C.  Bonney,  the  President 
of  the  Congress  Auxiliary,  and  others.  The  subsequent  meetings  of 
the  Congress,  which  continued  until  September  2nd,  1893,  were  held 
on  the  grounds  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  so  as  to  be 
within  reach  of  the  Anthropological  and  Ethnological  collections  in 
the  Anthropological  Building,  under  the  charge  of  Professor  F.  W. 
Putnam,  Chief  of  the  Department  of  Ethnology,  and  of  the  illustrations 
of  American  Ethnology  in  the  Government  Building,  besides  the  num- 
erous detached  collections  of  objects  which  afforded  so  abundant  a 
supply  of  material  for  Anthropological  study  at  the  Exposition.  In 
this  connection  should  be  mentioned  the  Midway  Plaisance,  where 
were  gathered  representatives  of  most  of  the  Oriental  peoples,  inclu- 

(vii) 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

sive  of  natives  from  several  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  as  well  as  of  various 
European  nationalities. 

The  papers  brought  before  the  Congress  were  classified  under 
the  heads  of  Physical  Anthropology,  Archaeology,  Ethnology,  Folk- 
lore, Religions  and  Linguistics.  In  addition  to  the  papers  read,  and 
to  the  Introductory  Address  by  the  President,  Dr.  Daniel  G.  Brinton, 
addresses  were  given  by  Dr.  Franz  Boas,  Professor  Henry  H.  Donald- 
son and  Professor  Joseph  Jastrow,  on  the  Anthropological  Labora- 
tories of  the  Department  of  Ethnology;  by  Mr.  Stewart  Culin,  Cap- 
tain J.  A.  Bourke,  United  States  Army,  and  Mr.  Frank  Hamilton 
Gushing,  on  the  Collection  of  Games  in  the  Anthropological  Building; 
by  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam,  on  North  American  Archaeology;  by 
Professor  Otis  T.  Mason,  on  North  American  Ethnology;  by  Mr. 
Frank  Hamilton  Gushing,  on  "  A  Zuni  Dramatic  Ceremonial,"  and 
on  "  The  GlitT-Dwellers;"  by  Mrs.  M.  French-Sheldon,  on  "  Customs 
among  Nations  of  East  Africa;"  and  by  Dr.  Ulrich  Jahn,  on  the 
Ethnological  Collection  in  the  German  Village  on  the  Midway  Plai- 
sance. 

In  addition  to  those  here  published,  the  following  papers  were 
read  before  the  Congress: 

Trepanning  in  Ancient  Peru.    By  Manuel  A.  Muniz. 

The  Mexican  Calendar  System.    By  Mrs.  Zelia  Nuttall. 

A   Peculiar   Observance   of   the    Quichua    Indians    of    Peru.     By   G.  A. 

DORSEY. 

The  Walpi  Flute  Observance:  A  Study  of  Tusuyan  Ceremonial.      By  L. 

Walter  Fewkes. 
Notes  on  the   Phonology  of  the  Kootenay  Indian  Language.     By  A.  F. 

Chamberlain. 
Study  of  the  Paquina  Language  of  Central  America.      By  Raoul  de  la 

Grasserie. 

The  paper  by  Mrs.  Zelia  Nuttall,  on  "The  Mexican  Calendar 
System/'  is  about  to  be  published  in  an  extended  form  by  the  Pea- 
body  Museum,  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  accompanied 
by  the  elaborate  tables  showing  the  reconstruction  of  the  Calendar 
with  which  it  was  illustrated. 


PREFACE.  IX 

An  arrangement  has  been  made  with  Mr.  Frank  Hamilton  Gush- 
ing whereby  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Washington,  D.  C, 
will  undertake  the  publication  in  its  forthcoming  Annual  Report  of  a 
Memoir  by  himself  and  Mr.  Stewart  Culin,  on  Divination  and  Games. 
This  Memoir  will  consist  of  the  addresses  presented  before  the  Gon- 
gress  by  Messrs.  Gushing  and  Gulin  on  the  series  of  games  exhibited 
in  the  Anthropological  Building,  greatly  extended,  and  will  be  illus- 
trated with  both  text  cuts  and  colored  plates.  As  the  Reports  of  the 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  are  widely  distributed  among  Ethnol- 
ogists, it  is  probable  that  a  copy  of  the  volume  containing  this 
Memoir  will  reach  nearly  every  subscriber  to  these  Proceedings.  Any 
subscriber  who  does  not  receive  it ,  however,  and  any  registered  mem- 
ber of  the  Gongress  will  be  able  to  obtain  a  copy  on  application  to 
the  Bureau. 

It  is  also  probable  that  the  other  addresses  presented  before  the 
Gongress  by  Mr.  Gushing,  on  the  Dramatic  Geremonial  of  the  Zuni, 
and  on  the  Gliff-Dwellers  and  their  place  in  Pueblo  History  and  Gul- 
ture,  will  be  published  later  by  the  same  office,  and  may  likewise  be 
made  available  to  members  of  the  Gongress. 

The  study  of  the  Paquina  Language  by  M.  Raoul  de  la  Grasserie 
has  already  appeared  in  France  as  a  separate  publication.  ' 

The  following  pamphlets  were  presented  by  the  authors  to  be 
laid  before  the  Gongress: 

Pkof.  Adolf  Bastian.  (i)  "Die  Verbleibs-Orte  der  abgeschiedenen  Seele. 

Ein  Vortrag  in  erweiterter  Umarbeitung." 
(2)  "  Der  Buddhismus  als  religions-philosophisches 
System." 
Le  Baron  de  Baye.  (i)  "Souvenir  de  Congres  internationaled' Anthro- 

pologie    et    d'    Archeologie     prehistorique." 
Moscou,  1892. 
(2)  "  Le    Congres   Internationale  d'  Anthropologie 
et  d'  Archeologie  prehistorique"  de  Moscou 
en  1892. 
General  J.  G.  R.  FORLONG.    "The  Two  Stages  in  Buddha's  Teaching." 


PREFACE. 


Dr.  g.  Kleinschmidt 
Dr.  G.  W.  Leitner. 


M.  F.  Gaillard.  "Inventaire  avec  Cartes   des  Monuments  megali- 

thiques  du  Morbihan."     [Revue  des  Sciences 
Naturelles  de  1'  Quest.] 

Mr.  J.  Park  Harrison.  "On   a  Glass   Necklace  from   Arica  in  tlie  Pitt- 

Rivers  Museum  at  Oxford." 

Prof.  Alois  Raimund  Hein.    "  Msander,  Kreuze,  Hakenkreuze  und  urmotivische 

Wirbelornamente  in  Amerika." 
"  Zwei  Lemnische  Inschriften." 

(1)  "The  Kelam-I-Pir  and  Esoteric  Muhammadan- 
ism." 

(2)  "  A  Secret  Religion  in  the  Hindukush  [the  Pamir 
region]  and  in  the  Lebanon." 

(3)  "  Anthropological  Observations  on  the  Dards 
and  Kafirs  in  Dr.  Leitner's  Service"  (with 
Portraits). 

(1)  "Stone  Circles  of  Britain." 

(2)  "  On  the  Connection  between  Stone  Circles 
and  Adjacent  Hills." 

"  L'  Anthropologie  aux  Etats  Unis." 


Mr.  a.  L.  Lewis. 


Dr  Paul  Topinard. 


REGISTERED    MEMBERS. 


Dr.  C.  Abel,  Wiesbaden,  Germany. 

Mr.  Louis  Abel,  406  South  Morgan  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

Miss  Mary  Newbury  Adams,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

Dr.  Cyrus  Adler,  Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington. 

Mr.  Harry  Alschuler,  763  Lincoln  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

Mr.  Chas.  F.  Artes,  Evansville,  Ind. 

Mr.  William  H.  Atkinson,  Elkhart,  Ind. 

Dr.  Frank  Baker,  5414  Jackson  Avenue,  Washington,  U.  C. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ballentyne. 

Mr.  John  C.  Ballard,  Sparta,  Michigan. 

Mr.  David  Prescott  Barrows,  Claremont,  L.  A.  Co.,  California. 

Lieut.  Fletcher  D.  Bassett,  5208  Kimbark  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Burns  Battle,  319  Monroe  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Carl  Baumann,  Bartlett,  111. 

Miss  Helen  Bell,  Chicago. 

Dr.  Robert  Bell,  Ottawa,  Ont. 

Mr.  F.  Berchtold,  Corvallis,  Oregon. 

Mr.  George  Blake,  Harvey,  111. 

Dr.  Blidan,  South  Palestine. 

Dr.  Franz  Boas,  6636  Stewart  Avenue,  Englewood,  III. 

Mrs.  Franz  Boas,  6636  Stewart  Avenue,  Englewood,  III. 
Miss  Marie  Boas,  6636  Stewart  Avenue,  Englewood,  111. 

Capt.  John  G.  Bourke,  U.  S.  A.,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Emanuel  R.  Boyer,  645  Sixty-second  Street,  Englewood.  Chicago. 

Mr.  James  E.  Brady,  Brushton,  N.  Y. 

M.  Braverman,  Visalia,  California. 

Dr.  Daniel  Garrison  Brinton,  Media,  Pennsylvania 

Mr.  G.  O.  Brohough. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Bronson,  Chicago,  III. 

Mrs.  C  H.  Bronson,  Chicago,  111. 

Mr.  John  Brown,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  W.  Wallace  Brown,  Calais,  Maine. 

Dr.  Gustav  Bruhl,  N.  W.  Cor.  John  and  H(  pkins  Streets,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Mr.  Avel  G.  Burman,  Cadillac,  Mich. 

Mr.  Daniel  E.  Calahane,  5637  La  Salle  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Walter  L.  Caldwell,  Senatobia,  Miss. 

Mrs.  Helen  Campbell,  Madison,  Wis. 

Mr.  Heli  Chatelain,  118  East  Forty-fifth  Street,  New  York. 

Mr.  W.  D.  Cherry,  Morgan  Park,  111. 

Sister  Clementine,  St.  Martins,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Carlos  Carleton  Closson,  Jr.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

(xi) 


Xll  REGISTERED   MEMBERS. 

Mr.  Richard  T.  Colburn.  Elizabeth,  N.  J. 

Mrs.  Clara  Combs,  Medora,  111. 

Mr.  John  H.  Copeland,  San  Antonio,  Texas. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Crane,  Miles,  Mich. 

Mrs.  Stewart  Culin,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  Edward  Cuinmings,  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mr.  Edward  Cummings,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mr.  Frank  Hamilton  Cushing,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Cutler,  45  Baxter  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

Dr.  Wm.  Healey  Dall,  Smithsonian  Institute,  Washington,  D  C. 

Dr.  David  J.  Day,  Washington,  D.  C. 

James  Deans,  Victoria,  B.  C 

Mr.  Chris  P.  Dittmer,  Pekin,  111. 

Prof.  H.  H.  Donaldson,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Mr.  J.  F.  O'Donnell,  608  Unity  Building,  Chicago. 

Mr.  George  Amos  Dorsey,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mr.  Thomas  Dowling,  Jr.,  Washington,  D.  C 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Echlin,  Evanston,  111. 

Prof.  Charles  L.  Edwards,  Austin,  Texas. 

Mrs.  S.  Louise  Ervin,  501  Bryant  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Prof.  Daniel  Falcomer,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Mr.  J.  Walter  Fewkes,  Boston,  Mass. 

Mr.  J.  Comfort  Fillmore,  290  Farwell  Avenue,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Mr.  W.  Fitz,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Miss  Alice  C.  Fletcher,  Peabody  Museum,  Harvard  University,  Cambridge, 
Mass. 

Miss  Emilie  Fletcher,  The  Waffrons,  Upper  Long  Ditton,  Surrey,  Eng. 

Mrs.  Mary  French-Sheldon,  F.R.G.S.,  London,  Eng. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Gaston,  Hutchinson,  Kansas. 

Prof.  Franklin  H.  Giddings,  Bryn  Mawr,  Penn. 

Mr.  Robert  L.  Gifford,  221  Fifth  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Wm.  H.  Gillard,  Oxford,  Ohio. 

Miss  Flora  Goldman,  240  North  Avenue,  Allegheny,  Penn. 

Miss  Rosa  Goldman,  240  North  Avenue,  Allegheny,  Penn. 

Miss  Mary  E.  Gouldy,  Newburgh,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Henry  G.  Graham,  1408  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago. 
„  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Greenlee,  48  Stewart  Avenue,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Grubbe,  2836  Church  Place,  Chicago. 

Mr.  C.  M.  Grumbling,  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa. 

Mr.  J.  V.  Mendes  Guerreiro,  Lisbon,  Portugal. 

Mr.  F.  P.  Gulliver,  Norwich,  Conn. 

Miss  Belle  Hale,  29l6  Calumet  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Handforth,  l59  Franklin  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  C.  Harrison,  Chicago. 

Miss  Corinne  Harrison,  Norfolk,  Virginia. 

Mr.  Ernest  Hart,  40  Wimpole  Street,  London,  Eng. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  XUl 

Dr.  Emil  Hassler,  Paraguay. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Hawkins,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Mrs.  Alice  Palmer  Henderson,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Mr.  Henrik  Chr.  Henriksen,  1S7  W.  Erie  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Frederick  Charles  Hicks,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Rev.  F.  L.  L.  Hiller,  University  Park,  Colo. 

Mr.  John  H.  Hjetland,  Leona,  Kansas. 

Prof.  John  W.  Hoffman,  State  University,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Dr.  Bayard  Holmes,  104  East  Fortieth  Street,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Bayard  Holmes,  104  East  Fortieth  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Holmes,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Granville  W.  Home,  Hutchinson,  Ky. 

Mr.  Walter  Hough,  U.  S.  National  Museum,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  John  C.  Houston,  iSi  Ninety-ninth  Street,  South  Chicago. 

Miss  Helen  S.  Norton  Howell. 

Mr.  C.  S.  Hubbard. 

Mr.  John  D.  Hullinger,  Jr.,  4337  Calumet  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  George  Hunt,  Fort  Rupert,  B.  C. 

Mr.  William  Hurst,  224  West  Randolph  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Huskey,  Pullman,  111. 

Mr.  S.  L.  Irvin,  Chicago. 

Mr.  William  F.  Irvine,  Yorkville,  111. 

Rev.  Jno.  L  Jackson,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Dr.  Julia  M.  Jackson,  372  Twentieth  Avenue  N.,  Minneapolis. 

Mr.  Adrian  Jacobsen,  Berlin,  Germany. 

Dr.  Ulrich  Jahn,  Berlin,  Germany. 

Prof.  J.  Jastrow,  Madison,  Wis. 

Prof.  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mr.  Arthur  Kaiser,  336  Richmond  Street,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  H.  F.  Kallenberg,  578  North  Avenue,  New  York. 

Mr.  Louis  Kanselbaum,  Denver,  Colo.  ^ 

Miss  Nellie  S.  Kedzie,  Manhattan,  Kansas. 

Rev.  James  W.  Kennedy,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Kersey,  4714  Evans  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Brandon  L.  Keys,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Lillian  G.  Keys,  405l  Spruce  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mr.  C.  S.  Kirkland,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Mr.  Alfred  Krembs,  152  West  Randolph  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  S.  W.  Kroesen,  Warrensburg,  Mo. 

Mr.  George  F.  Kunz,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  George  F.  Kunz,  New  York  City. 

Miss  Nora  De  Lapp,  Monticello,  Iowa. 

Dr.  S.  Laws,  Columbia,  S.  C 

Rev.  Anthon  P.  Lea,  Ruthven,  Iowa. 

Mr.  John  Gill  Lemmon,  101 5  Clay  Street.  Oakland,  Cal. 

Mrs.  Sara  Plummer  Lemmon,  1015  Clay  Street,  Oakland,  Cal. 

Prof.  Emile  Levasseur,  26  Rue  Monsieur  le  Prince,  Paris,  France. 


XIV  REGISTERED   MEMBERS. 

Mr.  Montague  R.  Leverson,  Charlottesville,  Va. 

Dr.  Charles  J.  Lewis,  733  Carroll  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Chas.  S.  Lobingien,  Omaha,  Neb. 

Mrs.  Margaret  S.  Lockwood,  1677  Barry  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Carl  Lumholtz,  Everett  House,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Wm.  McAdams,  Alton,  111. 

Mr.  James  E.  McDade,  Kensington,  111. 

Mr.  Wm.  H.  McFarland,  Placerville,  Col. 

Dr.  Anita  Newcomb  McGee,  1225  Connecticut  Avenue,  Washington,  D.  C 

Prof.  W.  J.  McGee,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Washington,  D.  C 

Mrs.  W.  J.  McGee,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  M.  Y.  Maclean,  Seaforth,  Ontario,  Canada. 

Mrs.  H.  W.  Magie,  7722  Winter  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  T.  Percy  Mallorie,  L.L.B.,  349  Chestnut  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Frank  Addison  Manny,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Manwarren,  Peoria,  111. 

Sr.  Margaret  of  the  S.  H.,  St.  Martins,  Brown  Co.,  Ohio 

Prof.  E.  L.  Mark,  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Prof.  Otis  T.  Mason,  National  Museum,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  George  Mercer,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Mercer,  Doylestown,  Bucks  Co.,  Penn. 

Mr.  H.  Middleton,  Washington,  D.  C 

Miss  Lily  E.  Miller,  Simons,  111. 

Mr.  P.  J.  Miniter,  43  Pear  Street,  Chicago. 

Rev.  G.  C.  Mitchell,  2099  Jackson  Boulevard,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Geo.  E.  Mitchell,  Rensselaer,  Ind. 

Sr.  M.  Monica,  St.  Martins,  Brown  Co.,  Ohio. 

Rev.  J.  Y.  Montague,  Pratt,  Kansas. 

M.  Emilio  Montes,  Hacienda  Kotawachs,  Pia  Andawaylas,  Peru. 

Mr.  G.  W.  Moorehouse,  Madison,  Wis. 

Mrs.  M.  J.  Morrill,  Villa  Park,  Colo. 

Prof.  Edward  S.  Morse,  Salem,  Mass. 

Mr.  Charles  Mueller,  1256  Fifty-seventh  Street,  Chicago. 

Dr.  John  Mueller,  Upsala,  Sweden. 

M.  Manuel  A.  Muniz,  Apartado  275,  Lima,  Peru. 

Prof.  William  Wells  Newell,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Miss  Newell,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Zelia  Nuttall,  4  Beust  Street,  Dresden,  Germany. 

Mr.  Althea  A.  Ogden,  46  Thirty-fifth  Street,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Mary  G.  Orsen,  Black  Walnut,  Va. 

Mrs.  E.  Parker,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Francis  Parry,  12  Queen's  Gate  Terrace,  London,  England. 

Mr.  Stephen  D.  Peet,  Good  Hope,  111. 

Prof.  G.  H.  Perkins,  Burlington,  Vt. 

Dr.  C.  Peters,  Berlin,  Germany. 

Mr.  Isaiah  Pillar,  Lima,  Ohio. 

Mrs.  Charles  E.  Planck,  Seattle,  Washington. 


REGISTERED   MEMBERS.  XV 

Miss  Esther  Pratt,  Salem,  Mass. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Price,  Western  Springs,  111. 

Prof.  F.  W.  Putnam,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mrs.  F.  W.  Putnam,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Miss  Alice  Putnam,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mr.  Geo.  H.  Putnam,  Austin,  Texas. 

Miss  Frances  Raff,  Cliicago. 

Mr.  Jerome  H.  Raymond,  297  W.  Park  Avenue,  Aurora,  111. 

Miss  Mary  Rennick,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Frank  C  Rex,  Pottstown,  Penn. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Rhoads,  Jacksonville,  Fla. 

Dr.  F.  M.  Rice,  Newton  Falls,  Ohio. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Richardson,  5807  La  Salle  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  J.  N.  Roe,  439  Englewood  Avenue,  Englewood,  111. 

Mr.  George  O.  Rogers,  Hillsboro,  Oregon. 

Mrs.  H.  F.  Rohde,  Chicago. 

Rev.  W.  A.  Ryan,  Camillus,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Stephen  Salisbury,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Mr.  H.  Sanders,  Savannah,  Ga. 

Mr.  Ezra  J.  Sanford,  Colgate  University. 

Mrs.  J.  W.  Saundes,  Gatesville,  Texas. 

Miss  Arianna  E.  Scammon,  5695  Madison  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Charles  H.  Sergei,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Charles  H.  Sergei,  Chicago. 

Rev.  Robert  P.  Shaw,  Sturgis,  Mich. 

Mr.  Edward  J.  Sheedy,  11  W.  Madison  Street,  Chicago. 

Prof.  Thos.  E.  Shields,  St.  Thomas  Seminary,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Mr.  Arthur  W.  Short,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

Mr.  Geo.  J.  Simons,  368  N.  Lincoln  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Prof.  Albion  W.  Small,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Harlan  I.  Smith,  Saginaw  (E.  S.),  Mich. 

Mr.  Herbert  Wood  Smith,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Mr.  J.  Edward  Smith,  834  Michigan  Street,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Spalding,  522  Byron  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Mr.  H.  A.  Squires,  Chicago. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Staven,  Chittenango,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Steinnmates,  Clinton,  111. 

Miss  Alta  Spear  Stevens,  Stanberry,  Mo. 

Mrs.  Cornelius  Stevenson,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mrs.  Matilda  Coxe  Stevenson,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Washington,  D.  C 

Mr.  William  B.  Stovell,  Martin,  Ga. 

Mr.  James  D.  Sweeney,  Albilene,  Kan. 

Mr.  William  Sweet,  Shelbyville,  111. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Taylor,  192  Thirty-first  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Isaiah  Milligan  Terrell,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

Gen.  Yates  G.  Thruston,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mr.  Paul  Tyner,  Madison,  Wis. 


XVi  REGISTERED   MEMBERS. 

Mr.  James  E.  Vatcher,  321  Chicago  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Miss  K.  B.  Vick,  Vicksburg,  Miss. 

Mr.  Ernest  Volk,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

Mr.  C.  Staniland  Wake,  4401  State  Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  John  Wallace,  Tuscola,  111. 

Mr.  F.  E.  Warren,  Y.  M.  C  A.,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Fred  Warriner,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

Mr.  E.  E.  Webb,  Ruttman,  Wash. 

Rev.  Z.  A.  Weidler,  Mountville,  Penn. 

Mr.  Henry  D.  Wellcome,  Snow  Hill  Buildings,  London,  Eng. 

Dr.  Gerald  M.  West,  Garnerville,  Rockland  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  John  B.  West,  212  South  Sixth  Street,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Rev.  Henry  S.  White,  Romeo,  Mich. 

Dr.  Eliza  Lawton  Whiteley,  6854  Wentworth  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Prof.  C.  G.  Whitman,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Harry  Whitney,  404  Whitney  Avenue,  Nev/  Haven,  Conn. 

Mr.  Geo.  D.  Wilder,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Rev.  W.  W.  Willard,  3533  Page  Avenue,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Rev.  G.  P.  Williams,  6713  Emerald  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Miss  Hannah  S.  Wingate,  2101  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Mr.  E.  A.  Wirks,  Hamilton,  Butler  Co.,  Ohio. 

Miss  Anna  S.  Woods,  Quincy,  111. 

Mr.  Wright,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Yates,  Noble,  Ohio. 

Mr.  A.  E.  Yerex,  Salem,  Oregon. 

Mrs.  A.  E.  Yerex,  Salem,  Oregon 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Presidential  Address. 

1.  The  "Nation"   as  an   Element   in   Anthropology.     By  Daniel  G. 

Brinton,     ........        19 

PHYSICAL  ANTHROPOLOGY.  • 

2.  The  Anthropology  of  the  North  American  Indian.     By  Franz  Boas,         37 

3.  The  Anthropometry  of  American  School  Children.    By  Gerald  M. 

West,  ...  .  .  .  .  .50 

ARCH/tOLOGY. 

4.  The  Discovery  of  an  Artificially  Flaked  Flint  Specimen  in  the  Quat- 

ernary Gravels  of  San  Isidro,  Spain.    By  H.  E.  Mercer.    Illus- 
trated,    -.--.---        61 

5.  Aboriginal  American  Mechanics.    A  Study  in  the  History  of  Tech- 

nography.    By  Otis  T.  Mason,     .  .  .  .69 

6.  Archaeological  Researches  in  the   Champlain   Valley.      By   G.   H. 

Perkins,     ........        84 

7.  Anthropological  Work  at  the  University  of  Michigan.    By  Harlan  1. 

Smith,  .......        92 

8.  The  Antiquity  of  the  Civilization  of  Peru.    By  Emilio  Montes,  .        95 

9.  Cave-Dwellers  of  the  Sierra  Madre.    By  Carl  Lumholtz,  .  100 

10.  Orientation.     By  A.  L.  Lewis,    .  .  .  .  .113 

11.  The  Tumuli  of  Hampshire  as  a  Central  Group  of  the  Tumuli  of 

Britain.    By  John  S.  Phene.     [Abstract],  -  -  .117 

12.  Natural  History  of  Flaked  Stone  Implements.     By.  W.  H.  Holmes. 

Illustrated,  ......      120 

13.  Cache  Finds  from  Ancient  Village  Sites  in  New  Jersey.    By  Ernest 

Volk.    Illustrated. 140 

(xvll) 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

ETHNOLOGY. 

14.    On  Various  Supposed  Relations  between  the  American  and  Asian 

Races.     By  D.  G.  Brinton,  .....       145 

15     Bark  Cloth.    By  Walter  Hough.     [Abstract],        .  .  .  i52 

16.  Love  Songs  Among  the  Omaha  Indians.     By  Alice  C.  Fletcher,         .      153 

17.  Primitive  Scales  and  Rhythms.    By  John  Comfort  Fillmore.    Illus- 

trated,         158 

18.  Secret  Societies  and  Sacred  Mysteries.    By  Stephen  D.  Peet,        .  176 

19.  Observations  Among  the  Cameroon  Tribes  of  West  Central  Africa. 

By  C.  H.  Richardson,        .  .  .  .  •  .199 

20.  Ethnological  Exhibit  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at  the  World's 

Columbian  Exposition.     By  Otis  T.  Mason,  .  .  208 

21.  The  Germ  of  Shore-Land  Pottery.     An  Experimental  Study.     By 

Frank  Hamilton  Gushing.     Illustrated,   .  .  .  .217 

FOLK-LORE. 

22.  Ritual  Regarded  as  the  Dramatization  of  Myth.    By  William  Wells 

Newell 237 

23.  Some  Illustrations  of  the  Connection  between  Myth  and  Ceremony. 

By  Washington  Matthews,      .....  246 

24.  The  Fall  of  Hochelaga.    A  Study  of  Popular  Tradition.     By  Horatio 

Hale,       --------      252 

25.  Folk-Lore  of  Precious  Stones.     By  George  Frederick  Kunz,         .  267 

26.  The  Coyote  and  the  Owl.    (Tales  of  the  Kootenay  Indians.)    By 

A.  F.  Chamberlain,  ......      282 

RELIGIONS. 

27.  The  Scope  and  Method  of  the  Historical  Study  of  Religions.     By 

Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  ......      287 

28.  An  Ancient  Egyptian  Rite  Illustrating  a  Phase  of  Primitive  Thought. 

By  Sara  Y.  Stevenson,       ......      298 

29.  A  Chapter  of  Zuni  Mythology.     By  Matilda  C.  Stevenson,  .  312 
30     The  Religious  Symbolism  of  Central  America  and  its  Wide  Distri- 
bution.   By  Francis  Parry.     [Abstract],            .           .            .320 

31.    Museum  Collections  to  Illustrate  Religious  History  and  Ceremonials. 

By  Cyrus  Adler,    ....  ...      322 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

LINGUISTICS. 

32.  The  Present  Status  of  American  Linguistics.     By  Daniel  G.  Brinton. 

[Abstract],  .......      335 

33.  Classification  of  the  Languages  of  the  North  Pacific  Coast.      By 

Franz  Boas,  .......      339 

SUPPLEMENTARY. 
GERMAN    PAPERS. 

34.  Die  Bewohner  des  Gran  Chaco,  Paraguay.     Von  Emil  Hassler,  .      349 

35.  Vilen  als  Heilkundige  iin  Volkglauben  der  Suedslaven.     Von  Dr. 

Friedrich  S.  Krauss,         ......      367 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ADDRESS    BY    THE    PRESIDENT. 
THE   "NATION"    AS    AN    ELEMENT    IN    ANTHROPOLOGY. 

BY  DR.  DANIEL  G.  BRINTON. 

THE  subject  which  I  bring  before  you  is  one  which  I  have  selected 
in  order  to  impress  upon  you  forcibly  the  true  breadth  and  full 
meaning  of  the  science  toward  the  cultivation  of  which  we  have 
assembled  at  this  time. 

There  is  no  other  word  which  so  thoroughly  expresses  the  pur- 
pose of  this  branch  of  learning  as  that  which  we  have  adopted — 
Anthropology,  the  Science  of  Man,  the  study  of  the  nature  of  man, 
the  search  for  and  correct  expression  of  those  laws,  and  all  the  laws, 
which  govern  the  birth,  growth,  development  and  decay  of  all  his 
traits,  powers  and  faculties. 

Anthropology  means  this,  and  nothing  less  than  this.  Its  motto 
is  that  of  the  character  in  the  Terentian  drama — 

"t/?  me  nullum  humanum  alienutn  puto." 

It  embraces  everything  and  excludes  nothing  which  pertains  to 
humanity,  whether  in  the  individual  or  in  his  various  aggregations. 
It  omits  no  part  or  function  of  him  as  unworthy  of  its  notice;  it 
admits  the  existence  of  none  so  superior  or  sacred  as  to  be  beyond 
the  pale  of  its  investigations.  The  field  which  it  goes  forth  to  reap 
is  the  World,  and  its  harvest-season  covers  all  time  since  man  tirst  set 
foot  upon  it. 

It  is  signally  unfortunate  that  the  full  connotation  of  the  term  has 
not  been  constantly  present  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  pursued 
the  science.  We  should  not  then  have  witnessed  the  cheerless  spectacle 
of  one  school  of  anthropologists  claiming  that  man  is  nothing  more 
than  the  highest  mammal,  and  that  the  study  of  his  anatomical  and 
physiological  relations  exhausts  the  definition  of  their  science,  and  that 
those  who  go  beyond  these  are  merely  "  historians  and  men  of  letters;" 
or  that  of  another  school,  which,  disregarding  the  incalculable  potency 
of  man's  physical  conditions,  seeks  to  erect  the  science  exclusively  on 

19 


20  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  basis  of  the  products  of  the  mental  faculties,  his  arts,   institu- 
tions, religions  and  languages. 

Each  is  equally  in  error.  No  correct  and  comprehensive  idea  can 
be  formed  of  the  various  elements  which  have  rendered  man  what  he 
is,  or  any  race  or  stock  of  men  what  it  is,  unless  all  these  phenomena 
receive  due  consideration,  and  the  various  agencies  which  influence 
them  are  weighed  with  impartial  fairness.  The  historian  must  become 
an  anatomist,  the  anatomist  a  linguist,  if  he  would  reach  positive  results 
in  this  study. 

You  observe  that  the  programme  of  this  Congress  includes  Physi- 
cal Anthropology,  Archaeology,  Ethnology,  Folk-lore,  Religions  and 
Linguistics.  It  would  be  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  science,  a 
notable  era  in  its  development,  if  the  labors  we  are  about  to  enter 
upon  should  lastingly  impress  on  all  who  pursue  this  branch  that  every 
one  of  these  departments  is  equally  important,  that  not  one  of  them 
can  be  neglected  or  overlooked,  that  the  richest  in  results  is  still  but 
primus  inter  pares,  a  brother  among  brethren. 

To  illustrate  how  closely  the  multitudinous  influences  which  they 
represent  are  woven  together,  and  how  each  bears  upon  the  whole 
nature  of  man,  I  shall  consider  with  brevity  in  what  manner  that  entity 
which  we  call  a  "  Nation"  appears  as  an  element  in  anthropology. 
I  have  been  partly,  though  by  no  means  wholly,  led  to  make  this 
selection  because  this  particular  question  has  been  much  misunder- 
stood in  some  quarters  and  its  bearings  misconceived.  As  late  as  at 
the  congress  at  Moscow  last  year,  a  distinguished  writer  on  our  branch 
of  science  said,  "  Nationality  has  nothing  to  do  with  anthropology. 
It  is  a  product  of  history  and  concerns  history  only. " 

So  far  from  this  being  correct,  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  nation- 
ality has  ever  been  and  is  to-day  an  agent  more  powerful  in  modifying 
both  the  physical  and  the  psychical  elements  of  man  than  either  race, 
climate,  religion  or  culture;  and  therefore  that  it  must  constantly  occupy 
the  attention  of  the  anthropologist,  whether  his  researches  are  in  the 
purely  physical  or  in  the  intellectual  fields. 

I  desire  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  anthropologist  will  never 
fully  comprehend  the  science  which  he  professes  to  follow,  will  never 
attain  the  preception  of  its  whole  significance,  if  he  omits  from  its 
study,  as  not  pertaining  strictly  to  it,  any  influence  whatever  which 
bears  upon  and  modifies  in  any  direction  the  evolution  of  the  human 
species.  This  the  Nation  does  with  a  directness  and  a  potency  which 
cannot  be  misunderstood  or  called  in  question. 


THE  NATION  AS  AN  ELEMENT  IN  ANTHROPOLOGY.     21 

Let  US  inquire  what  it  is  we  mean  by  the  expression  "  a  people  " 
or  "  a  nation,"  when  we  use  these  terms  as  synonymous.  I  can  find 
no  more  profound  and  true  definition  than  that  given  by  the  most 
philosophic  English  poet  of  this  century,  Robert  Browning,  in  these 
words: 

"A  people  is  but  the  attempt  of  many 
To  rise  to  the  completer  life  of  one." 

The  incompleteness  and  imperfectness  of  the  life  of  the  isolated 
individual,  and  his  conscious  or  unconscious  aspirations  for  completion 
and  perfection,  are  the  motives  which  have  ever  urged  man  to  establish 
those  relations  with  his  fellows  which  result  in  what  we  call  social  ties 
or  bonds. 

Although  to  the  superficial  observer  these  seem  to  have  been 
most  heterogeneous  and  fortuitous,  a  comprehensive  analysis  reduces 
them  to  a  very  few  so  far  as  their  guiding  principles  are  concerned. 
Here  as  elsewhere  in  ethnology  we  are  impressed  with  the  paucity,  yes, 
1  may  even  say  the  poverty,  of  the  resources  which  have  been  utilized 
by  man  in  his  upward  march  to  conscious  culture. 

Wherever  we  find  men  united  together  under  some  form  of  social 
compact,  we  shall  find  also  that  this  compact  will  fall  under  one  of 
three  categories.  It  is  based  upon  community,  either  real  or  theoretical, 
of  blood,  of  territorial  area,  or  of  purpose.  These  three  forms  are 
mutually  incompatible;  they  are  exclusive  of  and  in  sharp  contrast 
with  one  another;  they  react  very  differently  upon  the  individual  and 
the  race;  and  they  belong  markedly  to  different  periods  in  the  history 
of  a  people,  to  different  stages  of  its  advancement  in  culture. 

It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule  with  few  or  no  exceptions  that  the 
earliest  form  of  the  social  bond  is  one  of  blood,  of  kinship,  of  con- 
sanguinity and  affinity.  The  unit  of  the  primitive  horde  is  the  family, 
the  one  cohesive  principle  which  it  recognizes  as  socially  binding  is 
purity  of  descent,  the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the  stock,  as 
its  members  understand  it.  Here,  then,  we  see  a  mighty  influence  at 
work  to  preserve  in  primitive  times  and  conditions  the  unity  of  the 
physical  type.  The  visible  aim  of  communities  in  the  lower  stages 
of  culture  is  to  preserve  at  all  costs  the  characteristics  of  the  race  to 
which  they  belong,  and  the  particular  traits  of  the  variety  of  that  race 
as  inherited  from  their  ancestors.  This  is  the  guiding  principle  of 
what  is  known  as  matriarchy  and  the  custom  of  tracing  the  genealogical 
line  through  the  maternal  and  not  through  the  paternal  ancestry. 
Positive  certainty  as  to  parentage  must  in  every  case  be  limited  to 


22  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  mother,  and  for  that  reason  the  female  line  always  insures  a  higher 
probability  of  purity  of  descent. 

Of  course  the  degree  with  which  the  conservation  of  the  type 
was  really  maintained  under  this  system  depended  on  the  local  laws 
or  customs  regarding  marriage  and  the  fidelity  required  of  married 
women.  It  is  true  that  in  both  these  respects  there  is  considerable 
divergence  in  early  conditions.  In  some  places  exogamous  mar- 
riages prevailed;  that  is,  the  wife  must  not  be  an  acknowledged  re- 
lation of  the  husband;  more  frequently,  marriages  must  be  endoga- 
mous,  that  is,  she  must  be  of  his  recognized  kin;  though  often  this 
again  is  limited,  as  that  she  must  not  be  an  offspring  of  the  same 
mother,  or  not  be  within  Certain  degrees  of  kinship.  Reminiscences 
of  these  restrictions  still  prevail  in  civilized  communities,  in  ths 
laws  prohibiting  the  marriage  of  near  relations,  or,  as  in  England, 
prohibiting  marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister. 

In  spite  of  these  limitations,  which  differ  widely  in  different 
tribes,  the  general  influence  of  the  principle  of  consanguinity  as  the 
basis  of  the  social  compact  unquestionably  aided  through  countless 
ages  to  individualize  the  physical  types  of  the  human  species,  and 
thus  to  develop  and  render  permanent  its  races  and  varieties  as  we 
now  know  them. 

So  powerful  was  this  prejudice  in  favor  of  the  ancestral  type, 
that  it  was  a  general  custom  in  primitive  times  to  destroy  at  or  shortly 
after  birth  any  aberrant  types,  and  to  bring  all  into  accord  with  the 
tribal  idea.  For  instance,  in  certain  parts  of  Mexico  there  is  a  tend- 
ency to  congenital  albinism  in  the  native  population;  and  before 
the  conquest  all  children  displaying  this  tendency  were  sacrificed  to 
the  gods  before  the  age  of  puberty.  Among  the  Papuans,  when 
a  child  is  born  of  a  lighter  color  than  the  average  of  the  tribe,  it  is 
assiduously  held  in  the  smoke  of  green  branches  until  it  is  tanned 
to  the  proper  hue.  Whenever,  indeed,  there  was  any  material  varia- 
tion from  the  received  type,  the  infant  was  sure  not  to  live  to  that 
period  of  life  when  he  or  she  could  transmit  it  to  offspring;  and 
thus  a  potent  factor  in  the  evolution  of  the  species  toward  modified 
forms  was  absent  throughout  all  the  childhood  of  the  human  race, 
owing  to  the  conditions  of  the  prevailing  social  compact. 

The  somatologist  will  object  to  this,  that  in  the  very  earliest 
times  and  within  limited  areas  we  find  that  a  wide  diversity  of 
type  prevailed.  For  instance,  I  suppose  the  oldest  remains  of  the 
human  race  found  up  to  the  present  have  been  unearthed  in  Western 


THE  NATION  AS  AN  ELEMENT  IN  ANTHROPOLOGY.  23 

Europe.  But  these  venerable  relics  show  the  existence  there  in  re- 
motest times  and  at  no  great  distance  apart— not  more  than  a  few 
days'  walk  of  an  active  pedestrian— of  men  with  broad  heads,  and 
others  with  narrow  heads,  with  narrow  faces  and  with  wide  faces, 
with  expanded  flat  noses  and  with  narrow  aquiline  noses,  of  stature 
below  the  medium  and  others  above  the  medium;  and  we  may  reas- 
onably conclude  from  their  descendants  that  some  were  blonds  with 
yellow  hair,  while  others  were  swarthy  brunettes  with  locks  like 
the  raven's  wing.  So  that  Professor  Kollmann,  who  has  made  this 
subject  a  special  study,  cannot  see  his  way  clear  to  admit  less  than 
four  different  races  struggling  for  the  soil  of  Western  Europe  in  pre- 
historic times. 

Yet  if  we  may  judge  from  some  historic  data  and  all  analogy, 
these  ancient  peoples,  like  all  others,  strove  to  retain  in  its  purity  the 
race  of  their  ancestors  by  a  social  organization  looking  to  that  end. 

Two  customs  prevail  everywhere  in  primitive  life  which  largely 
counteract  the  result  of  consanguine  marriages;  the  one  is  adoption, 
the  other  concubinage.  Usaully,  in  their  unceasing  wars,  the  males 
of  conquered  tribes  were  killed  and  the  women  taken  as  captives,  thus 
introducing  through  the  females  of  another  line  the  peculiarities  of 
their  variety  or  race. 

In  some  instances,  however,  the  males  were  in  part  preserved 
and  adopted  into  the  clans  of  the  conquering  tribe,  either  as  members 
or  as  slaves.  In  either  case  they  led  to  a  modification  of  the  ascendant 
type. 

So  varied  were  and  are  the  customs  and  rules  of  primitive  peoples 
in  all  these  respects  that  it  would  be  vain  to  attempt  to  establish  a 
formula  representing  the  degree  in  which  the  integrity  of  the  racial  or 
ethnic  type  was  maintained;  but,  the  aim  of  their  institutions  being 
always  and  definitely  this,  we  may  be  sure  that  they  tended  very 
positively  to  preserving  the  lineage  undefiled,  and  to  perpetuating  the 
physical  and  mental  traits  of  each  community.  When  this  did  not 
occur,  it  was  in  contradiction  to  the  theory  of  the  social  compact,  and 
arose  from  ignorance  of  the  natural  conditions  which  insure  per- 
petuity of  type,  or  their  disregard,  owing  to  the  cravings  of  individual 
appetite. 

In  entire  contrast  to  all  this  are  both  the  theory  and  the  practice 
which  we  find  in  the  next  higher  step  in  social  relations,  that  which 
has  for  its  basis  a  geographical  or  territorial  concept. 

In  this,  it  is  not  the  notion  of  kinship  but  that  of  country  which 


24  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

is  predominant.  The  patriot  of  this  epoch  fights  no  longer  for  his 
lineage,  but  for  his  land,  not  for  his  relations,  but  for  the  realm.  He 
expresses  in  this  the  sentiment  which  actuates  the  Nation,  properly 
so  called.  Consanguine  governments  are  tribal  governments;  with 
the  birth  of  a  genuine  nationality,  the  family,  the  gens,  the  tribe,  are 
all  doomed  to  disappear,  and  with  them  the  modifying  influences  they 
exerted  on  the  race. 

The  intervening  step  between  the  Tribe  and  the  Nation  is  usually 
said  to  be  the  Federation,  in  which  several  tribes  agree  to  forget 
their  jealousies  and  unite  in  defense  or  oflfense.  This  condition  is 
transitory,  and  1  shall  pass  it  by,  in  order  to  consider  the  direct  influence 
of  a  Nationality  on  those  elements  of  human  nature  which  are  the 
peculiar  topics  of  anthropologic  science. 

The  first  object  of  Nationality  is  unity,  and  this  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  the  term  and  in  all  the  relations  of  national  life. 

Almost  the  very  first  of  its  aims  is  physical  unity.  A  visible  con- 
trast between  the  inhabitants  of  diflferent  areas  under  one  rule  is  sug- 
gestive to  the  legislator  of  a  lack  of  harmony  in  other  respects.  The 
influence  of  a  court,  or  of  centralization  generally,  has  ever  been  to 
disseminate  throughout  the  realm  one  standard  of  physical  beauty,  as 
also  one  of  costume  and  deportment;  and  this  irrespective  of  how 
many  discrepant  varieties  go  to  make  up  the  body  of  the  nation. 

In  this,  as  in  all  other  respects,  the  chief  efforts  of  the  nation 
through  its  rulers  are  directed  toward  destroying  those  individual  and 
tribal  traits  which  forms  of  government  based  on  consanguinity 
make  it  their  chief  end  to  cherish. 

This  contrast  presents  itself  early.  We  find,  for  instance,  that 
the  native  rulers  of  ancient  Peru,  the  Incas,  were  accustomed,  as  soon 
as  they  had  subjugated  a  new  province,  to  deport  large  numbers  of 
its  inhabitants  to  distant  parts  of  their  empire,  and  supply  their  places 
with  inhabitants  of  other  tribes,  who  had  been  long  subject  to  their 
rule. 

This  plan  of  partial  deportation  and  colonization  was  familiar  to 
the  Carthaginians,  Romans  and  other  enterprising  nations  of  the 
Mediterranean  Basin,  and  explains  to  a  large  extent  the  constant 
blending  of  extreme  physical  types  which  the  somatologist  discovers 
in  the  remains  from  the  oldest  cemeteries  around  that  great  interior  sea. 
We  know  by  history  and  tradition  that  the  "  blond  Libyans,"  the 
light-haired,  blue-eyed  natives  of  Northern  Africa,  tall  and  dolicho- 
cephalic, were  transported  in  large  numbers  across  the  sea  to  the  north. 


THE  NATION  AS  AN  ELEMENT  IN  ANTHROPOLOGY.      25 

and  settled  among  the  smaller,  swarthy  and  brachycephalic  tribes, 
whom  we  vaguely  hear  of  under  the  names  of  Ligurians,  Aquitanians, 
and  Iberians. 

Another  physical  lever  which  the  Nation,  as  distinct  from  the 
Tribe,  brings  to  bear  on  the  physical  traits  of  the  species  within  its 
limit  is  its  military  organization.  This  is  no  longer  classified  by  clans 
or  gentes,  but  is  an  army,  with  its  soldiers  drawn  indiscriminately  from 
all  parts  of  its  territory,  and  moving  inditferently  into  all  parts,  as 
occasion  calls  for.  In  earlier  and  more  disturbed  times,  when  social 
ethics  were  less  regarded  than  to-day,  the  presence  of  large  numbers 
of  men  cantoned  and  quartered  upon  the  inhabitants,  often  exercising 
over  them  a  brutal  authority,  led  to  constant  commingling  of  race- 
types  and  the  gradual  extinction  of  local  peculiarities. 

The  influence  which  the  Nation  as  an  anthropologic  element 
exerts  on  language  is  one  which  demands  our  special  attention. 
When  it  is  rightly  understood,  much  of  that  contest  which  has 
been  going  on  for  years  between  ethnographers,  as  to  the  worth 
or  worthlessness  of  language  as  a  guide  in  ethnography,  will  appear 
in  a  different  light. 

It  is  obvious  that  it  would  be  consonant  with  the  spirit  of  a 
gentile  or  consanguine  society  to  preserve  pertinaciously  its  own 
inherited  speech,  and  to  oppose  any  changes  in  it.  But  it  is  just  as 
much  in  its  spirit  to  desire  to  confine  its  own  tongue  to  its  own  mem- 
bers and  to  look  with  jealousy  on  others  than  those  of  the  true  blood 
making  use  of  it.  Professional  linguists  in  the  American  field  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  prevailing  unwillingness  of  the  natives  to  give 
much  information  about  their  languages.  They  regard  with  suspicion 
and  distrust  inquirers  into  their  own  peculiar  dialects;  it  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  trespass  upon  private  property.  The  federations  of  tribes 
never  go  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  establish  linguistic  or  dialectic  unity. 
Only  incidentally  and  accidentally  does  one  tongue  partly  encroach 
upon  another  one  in  this  stage  of  society. 

For  this  reason  the  linguistic  classification  in  ethnography  is  a 
truly  valuable  one  in  all  conditions  of  life  where  the  consanguine  rule 
prevails.  The  language  is  then  a  trustworthy  guide  of  affiliation  both 
exclusively  and  inclusively,  and  the  instances  are  extremely  rare,  if 
any  indeed  exist,  where  one  tribe  had  deliberately  forced  another  to 
change  its  language,  as  the  condition  of  entering  into  an  alliance. 

The  so-called  "  Empire  of  Anahuac,"  in  Mexico,  the  organization 
of  which  had  not  wholly  emerged  from  the  consanguine  condition. 


26  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

held  as  conquered  and  tributary  many  tribes  of  different  speech,  but 
had  made  no  effort  to  impose  upon  any  of  them  its  own  sonorous 
and  beautiful  language.  On  the  other  hand,  Peru,  which  had  reached 
a  condition  of  national  existence,  exerted  constant  and  strong  pressure, 
as  its  historian  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega  assuics  us,  to  crush  and  extirpate 
all  other  tongues  throughout  its  domains  than  the  Kechua,  that  spoken 
by  the  Incas  and  their  congeners.  It  was  declared  to  be  the  official 
language,  and  there  was  no  hope  for  promotion  for  one  not  familiar 
with  it.  In  this  respect,  those  enlightened  rulers  of  the  Peruvian  state 
displayed  an  insight  into  what  constitutes  the  very  strongest  bond  of 
national  unity,  which  we  here  in  the  United  States  appreciate  yet  but 
imperfectly.  It  is  within  my  own  memory  that  the  Acts  of  Assembly 
of  my  own  State  were  issued  in  two  languages,  thus  encouraging 
a  long -existing  linguistic  discrepancy  between  the  citizens  of  that 
commonwealth.  Linguistic  unity  is  the  indispensable  basis  of  national 
unity.  When,  as  is  the  case  with  one  of  the  present  European  empires, 
we  hear  of  thirty-six  different  languages  being  current  under  one  rule, 
we  may  be  sure  there  is  no  real  coherence  in  the  nation. 

The  recognition  of  this  fact,  and  the  steady  efforts  directed  toward 
the  extermination  of  subordinate  tongues  and  the  substitution  of  a 
general  or  national  one  in  their  place,  has  led  to  the  phenomenon  of 
peoples  of  the  same  descent  speaking  different  idioms,  and  those  of 
alien  origin  expressing  themselves  through  one  and  the  same  medium. 

It  remains  true,  nevertheless  —  and  this  is  an  important  point  too 
often  lost  sight  of  in  the  discussion  —  that  this  substitution  of  one 
language  for  another  never  takes  place  without  an  extensive  admixture 
of  blood;  for  there  is  no  more  potent  and  prompt  method  of  attacking 
the  integrity  of  a  language  than  by  intermarriage.  Indeed,  except  in 
cases  of  slavery,  we  may  almost  establish  the  formula  that  the  admix- 
ture of  blood  under  such  circumstances  bears  the  fixed  relation  of 
one-half  to  one;  that  is,  that  when  a  language  has  superseded  another, 
one-half  of  the  marriages  in  the  latter  have  been  with  members  of  the 
former.  Of  course,  by  marriages  in  this  relation  we  mean  continued 
sexual  unions,  not  necessarily  legal  ceremonies. 

In  no  department  of  anthropology  has  the  Nation  as  a  formative 
agent  exerted  a  more  visible  influence  than  in  religion. 

It  is  well  known  to  you  all  that  the  primitive  religion  is  strictly 
that  of  the  gens,  the  family  and  the  tribe.  Some,  indeed,  have  claimed 
that  ancestral  worship,  the  homage  paid  to  the  forefathers  of  the 
horde,  was  always  the  earliest  expression  of  the  religious  sentiment. 


THE  NATION  AS  AN  ELEMENT  IN  ANTHROPOLOGY.      27 

This  is  probably  erroneous,  but  that  it  generally  played  a  prominent 
part  all  will  acknowledge.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that,  so  long 
as  the  consanguine  theory  of  social  organization  exists,  the  religion  is 
always  tribal.  The  god  or  gods  which  are  worshiped  arc  gods  of  the 
tribe,  interesting  themselves  in  it  exclusively  or  mainly,  espousing  its 
cause,  and  defending  it  against  the  tribal  enemies.  It  makes  no  ditfer- 
ence  whether  the  tendency  of  the  tribal  psychology  is  toward  poly- 
theism or  monotheism,  toward  materiality  or  spirituality  in  its  deistic 
conceptions,  the  strictly  limited  and  tribal  character  of  its  religion  will 
not  be  altered. 

It  was  a  serious  error  on  the  part  of  the  philosopher  Comte  to 
suppose  that  the  line  of  progress  of  religions  is  from  animism,  or,  as 
he  called  it,  fetichism,  through  polytheism  to  monotheism.  That  may 
be  the  logical,  but  it  is  not  the  historical,  progress.  A  monotheism 
may  be  as  narrow  as  the  narrowest  ancestral  worship;  the  one  god 
may  be  merely  the  god  of  the  tribe,  as  was  the  Jehovah  of  the  early 
Jews,  derived,  as  Semitic  scholars  now  tell  us,  name  and  all,  from  a 
local  Canaanitish  deity. 

The  real  line,  of  progress  is  in  extension,  in  the  conception  of  a 
supreme  intelligence,  who  treats  friend  and  foe  with  equal  favor,  and 
who  governs  the  processes  of  the  universe  on  principles  which  do  not 
fit  into  any  frame  of  morals  or  justice  carved  by  human  hands,  for 
these  are  ever  the  product  of  temporary  phases  of  growth. 

To  this  progress  the  Nation  as  an  historic  entity  powerfully  con- 
tributed. As  one  tribe  conquered  and  absorbed  another,  and  new  gods 
were  brought  in  along  with  the  new  blood,  it  necessarily  followed 
that  their  merely  tribal  character  was  lost.  They  were  chosen  as 
national  gods,  or,  more  generally,  they  fell  into  complete  forgetf ulness. 
Were  they  locally  celebrated  as  potent  auxiliaries  of  their  worshipers, 
special  etforts  might  be  made  to  destroy  their  hold  upon  the  imagina- 
tion of  their  adherents.  It  is  curious  to  observe  that  both  in  Peru 
and  in  ancient  Rome  the  most  celebrated  gods  of  conquered  tribes 
were  carried  to  the  capital,  and  there  placed  in  a  temple  by  them- 
selves, where  it  was  believed  they  could  do  no  harm  to  the  reigning 
powers. 

It  is  true  that  the  tribal  character  of  tribal  religions,  inherited 
from  father  to  son  through  so  many  generations,  continued  to  make 
itself  felt  even  in  the  minds  of  religious  reformers  and  national  rulers 
long  after  the  Nation  had  exerted  its  dissolving  potency  on  most 
which  had  come  under  its  influence.     Christianity  was  first  preached 


28  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

as  a  tribal  religion,  and  it  was  only  with  expressed  regret  that  its 
founder,  finding  that  it  would  not  be  received  by  the  tribe,  sought 
disciples  outside  of  the  line  of  Judah.  So,  in  later  times,  and  quite 
down  to  our  own  day,  national  councils  and  rulers  express  themselves 
with  more  or  less  of  sincerity  in  the  words  of  Louis  XIV,:  "  Can  God 
forget  all  that  1  have  done  for  Him?  " 

But  even  fanatics  and  hypocrites  are  not  utterly  impervious  to 
the  logic  which,  in  the  construction  of  the  Nation,  destroys  the  gods 
of  the  tribe.  They,  too,  begin  sooner  or  later  to  perceive  that  deity 
is  quite  as  much  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  of  their  country  as  on  their 
own,  and  thus  that  a  national  religion  or  a  state  church  is  an  illogical 
anachronism  which  can  be  maintained  only  at  the  cost  of  debasing 
the  religious  sentiment  and  hindering  its  true  evolution. 

The  greater  security  accompanying  a  firmly-established  govern- 
ment and  a  more  extended  knowledge  of  natural  laws  also  forced  a 
change  upon  the  conceptions  of  the  religious  sentiment. 

The  distinguished  anthropologist  Broca  maintained  that  religion  is 
not  a  proper  and  distinctive  trait  of  humanity;  that  its  sole  foundations 
are  fear  and  ignorance,  and  that,  as  these  disappear  in  the  onward 
march  of  intellect  and  the  improvement  of  social  security,  all  forms  of 
religion  will  be  discarded.  Following  his  doctrines,  MM.  Hovelacque 
and  Herve',  in  their  excellent  text-book.  Precis  lV Anthropologic,  for- 
mulate the  decision:  "When  the  human  intellect  attains  freedom 
through  observation  and  experience,  it  reaches  atheism,  that  scientitlc 
form  of  materialism  which  acknowledges  the  existence  of  nothing 
beyond  the  elements  of  matter  and  the  properties  with  which  they 
are  endowed." 

Toward  the  destruction  of  all  local,  personal  and  tribal  forms  of 
religion  the  Nation  potently  contributes  by  declaring  them  in  antag- 
onism to  the  spirit  of  nationality;  the  security  it  guarantees  lessens 
the  dread  of  the  unknown,  and  thus  diminishes  the  element  of  fear  as 
a  basis  for  religion;  but  it  is  still  questionable  whether,  if  all  such  fear 
was  removed,  the  result  stated  by  the  writers  above  quoted  would  be 
reached.  The  religious  sentiment  is  not  exclusively  based  on  fear, 
and  manifests  itself  without  this  prompting. 

In  discussing  this  question  broadly,  1  shall  not  stop  to  consider 
the  special  form  of  government  which  the  Nation  may  adopt.  That 
is  really  of  secondary  importance,  as  it  does  not  materially  influence 
the  completeness  of  the  contrast  between  the  spirit  of  the  Nation,  as 
such,  and  that  of  the  tribal  condition. 


THE  NATION   AS   AN   ELEMENT  IN   ANTHROPOLOGY.  29 

Whatever  the  national  form  of  government  adopted,  the  principal 
maxims  of  jurisprudence  and  the  ethical  principles  upon  which  they 
repose  are  profoundly  modified  by  the  substitution  of  the  national  in 
place  of  the  tribal  idea. 

I  will  illustrate  this  contrast  by  an  example  familiar  to  the  stu- 
dents of  the  early  history  of  this  country. 

The  European  settlers  in  the  colonies  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  could  not  understand  why,  when  in  time  of  peace  an  Indian 
murdered  a  white  man,  they  could  obtain  no  redress  from  the  tribal 
government  with  whom  they  had  treaty  relations.  They  regarded 
such  indolence  a  breach  of  faith  and  proof  of  evil  intention.  It  was 
nothing  of  the  kind.  A  crime  of  blood  was  something  which  con- 
cerned the  consanguined  gens  only;  it  was  a  family  matter,  with 
which  the  tribal  council  had  no  concern,  and  about  which  it  could  take 
no  action;  it  was  in  no  sense  a  crime  against  the  common- 
wealth. 

This  view  of  the  case  was  something  wholly  incomprehensible  to 
the  Europeans,  who  belonged  to  states  where  a  felony  or  a  breach  of 
the  peace  is  an  attack  on  the  community.  In  other  words,  ethnic 
jurisprudence  is  something  quite  different  when  the  Nation  appears 
on  the  stage  of  history  from  what  it  is  in  the  tribal  condition. 

This  contrast  runs  through  the  whole  of  ethics.  In  a  thoughtful 
article  published  some  years  ago  in  the  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologic, 
Dr.  Kulischer  pointed  out  that  in  primitive  conditions  ethics  presents 
a  dualistic  aspect:  it  demands  the  cultivation  of  kindness,  protection, 
assistance,  love  and  peace  to  our  friends,  but  quite  as  much  does  it 
prescribe  hatred,  enmity,  robbery,  murder  and  deception  toward  our 
enemy.  The  Nation  breaks  down  the  walls  of  narrow  tribal  animosi- 
ties; it  increases  the  number  of  those  whose  patriotic  interests  are  in 
common,  and  thus  widens  the  area  of  duty  and  the  conceptions  of 
ethics;  but  who  dares  say  that  our  own  conceptions  of  ethics  are 
much  beyond  the  primitive  stage  when  still  the  greatest  hero  among 
us  is  the  most  skillful  in  murdering  men,  the  most  expert  military 
commander? 

Anything  like  a  categorical  imperative  in  ethics,  a  prescription  of 
duty  which  should  be  the  law  of  everyone  toward  all  men  would  be 
out  of  the  question  in  a  society  based  on  relationship  or  on  narrow 
territorial  considerations. 

Nowhere  does  this  ethical  contrast  become  more  apparent  than 
in  the  relations  of  the  one  to  the  many,  of  the  individual  to  the  mass» 

/ 


30  THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

a  feature  in  ethnic  jurisprudence  admirably  brought  out  in  his  recent 
masterly  work  on  the  subject  by  Dr.  Albert  Hermann  Post. 

In  the  tribal,  totemic  or  consanguine  condition  of  government  the 
individual  is  not  regarded  as  an  independent  unit.  The  obligations  he 
has  to  fulfill  are  those  of  his  gens,  and  his  actions  are  regarded,  not 
as  his  own,  but  as  those  of  a  member  of  his  gens. 

If  he  robs  or  murders,  the  punishment  falls,  not  on  him  person- 
ally, but  on  the  gens;  and  if  blood-money  or  other  compensation  is 
demanded,  it  is  not  from  him  that  it  is  required,  but  from  the  gens. 

He,  in  turn,  is  liable  for  any  crime  his  fellow  -  clansmen  may 
commit;  and  in  this  vicarious  expiation  he  sees  nothing  in  conflict 
with  the  principles  of  abstract  justice.  He  has  not  yet  reached  to  the 
consciousness  of  himself  as  an  individual.  He  accepts  the  obligations 
of  his  clan  as  his  own,  and  is  scarcely  aware  that  he  suffers  any 
diminution  because  he  can  create  no  obligations  himself  otherwise  than 
in  his  position  as  a  representative  of  the  clan  or  gens. 

This  is  also  true  of  his  civil  rights,  and  those  which  refer  to 
property.  Wherever  the  consanguine  theory  is  in  force,  the  com- 
munal idea  of  property  is  also  active.  The  land  belongs  in  part  or  in 
whole  to  the  kith  and  kin,  in  the  nature  of  common  land,  or  is  sub-let 
by  the  heads  of  the  community  on  longer  or  shorter  tenures.  Per- 
sonal property  is  so  only  in  the  sense  that  it  belongs  to  the  members 
of  an  immediate  family  or  sub-gens,  not  to  an  individual,  and  in 
many  instances  passes  in  the  female  line. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  such  a  condition  of  society  no  idea  of  inde- 
pendent personal  duty  or  individual  morality  could  rise  in  the  mind; 
and  should  any  such  enter  through  foreign  instigation,  it  would  be 
condemned  as  false,  destructive  and  treasonable. 

Permit  me  to  dwell  on  this  point  with  some  detail  because  of  its 
prime  importance.  Those  considerations  which  establish  in  a  com- 
munity its  moral  code,  its  ideal  standard  of  what  is  right,  of  con- 
science and  of  duty,  pronounce  the  final  sentence  on  the  fate  of  that 
community.  In  all  earlier  conditions,  the  preservation  of  the  gens  or 
tribe  rested  more  on  measures  of  destruction  than  of  protection. 
Hence,  toward  the  alien  and  the  stranger  justice  and  mercy  were  out 
of  place  and  actually  prohibited.  Caesar  tells  us  of  the  ancient  Ger- 
mans, and  Nordenskjold  repeats  the  same  of  the  modern  Tchuktches 
of  Siberia,  that  they  respected  no  law  or  honesty  in  dealing  with 
strangers  or  those  alien  to  their  tribe.  To  cheat  such  in  trade,  to  de- 
ceive and  to  plunder  them,  was  actually  meritorious. 


THE   NATION   AS   AN   ELEMENT  IN  ANTHROPOLOGY.  3l 

In  such  communities  the  stranger  has  no  rights,  and  can  claim 
no  protection  as  a  fellow  human  being.  He  can  only  attain  such 
through  some  rite  of  adoption  into  the  tribe,  or  through  some  cere^ 
mony  by  which  he  can  claim  the  privileges  of  hospitality,  what  Ger- 
man writers  call  the  Gastrecht.  The  gens,  the  clan,  the  tribe,  is  an 
isolated  unit,  in  natural  antagonism  to  the  race  at  large,  and  recognizes 
no  sort  of  solidarity  with  its  other  members,  nay,  regards  them  as 
foes. 

How  dilferent  is  all  this  in  the  developed  system  of  the  state } 
There,  the  individual  man  is  held  accountable  for  his  own  actions. 
He  is  considered  responsible  for  the  deeds  he  commits,  and  therefore 
feels  that  he  is  answerable  to  himself  for  the  opinions  and  ethical  the- 
ories which  lie  at  the  basis  of  his  life  and  direct  his  conduct.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  race,  he  learns  the  meaning  of  Person- 
ality, the  highest  lesson  which  advancing  civilization  can  impress  on 
humanity.  He  sees  that  by  himself  he  must  either  stand  or  fall;  that 
no  vicarious  expiation  can  meet  the  demands  of  what  is  eternally 
right;  that  his  responsibility  does  not  belong  to  another,  nor  can  it  be 
involved  by  the  actions  of  another,  but  ever  centers  in  his  own 
thoughts  and  actions.  Thus  is  he  gradually  emancipated  from  that 
condition  of  tutelage  and  hereditary  bondage  in  which  he  was  so  long 
kept  by  the  consanguine  theory  of  government. 

I  cannot  too  strongly  impress  upon  you  that  this  concept  of  per- 
sonality is  a  totally  ditferent  condition  from  that  of  the  isolated  primi- 
tive man.  We  may  imagine  such  an  one,  living  alone  with  his  one 
wife,  his  children  around  him,  his  household  goods  and  gods  all  within 
his  lonely  lodge.  That  man's  monogamy,  his  sense  of  property,  his 
feelings  of  duty  and  responsibility,  of  association  and  independence, 
can  in  no  way  be  assimilated  to  those  of  the  man  who  is  the  free  pro- 
duct of  the  state,  developed  through  countless  generations  of  gradual 
culture.  To  the  scientific  anthropologist  the  one  is  the  complete  con- 
trast to  the  other;  they  have  nothing  in  common  but  their  external 
membership  of  the  same  species,  and  a  vague  resemblance  of  external 
conditions. 

The  individual  is  indeed  the  true  purpose  of  the  state.  Its  aim 
distinctly  is  that  he,  or  she,  as  an  individual,  shall  be  provided  with, 
and  protected  in,  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  personal  liberty,  in 
this  being  in  the  utmost  contrast  to  consanguine  governments;  where 
the  individual  is  nothing,  the  tribe  everything. 

The  value  of  personal  liberty  is  as  a  means  toward  the  acquisition 


32  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

of  personal  happiness,  and  hence  we  are  willing  to  accept  the  defini- 
tion of  the  modern  idea  of  justice  as  advanced  by  the  eminent  French 
anthropologist,  Andre  Lefevre — that  it  is  the  respect  for  every  interest 
which  contributes  to  the  highest  general  happiness  of  humanity ;  and  we 
cannot  refuse  to  accept  the  definition  of  morality  which  Hovelacque 
and  Herve  offer,  in  their  treatise  above  referred  to,  as  the  only  one 
which  anthropologists  can  recognize;  that  it  is  the  principle  of  organ- 
ization for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  the  physical  and  intellectual  needs 
of  all  men;  a  principle  which,  they  justly  add,  can  only  be  carried  out 
successfully  by  guaranteeing  to  the  individual  the  highest  degree  of 
personal  liberty  in  every  direction,  limited  by  no  other  barrier  than 
the  enjoyment  of  similar  liberty  by  every  other  individual. 

It  is  obvious  on  very  slight  reflection  that  the  state  as  as  element 
in  anthropology  has  by  no  means  worked  out  its  full  destiny  in  mod- 
ifying the  physical  and  psychical  nature  of  man.  As  a  form  of  gov- 
ernment it  is  far  from  covering  the  whole  of  the  earth's  surface,  and 
where  it  is  nominally  present  it  is  still  further  in  many  instances  from 
that  perfected  condition  in  which  it  has  thrown  aside  the  clogs  and 
fetters  of  the  consanguine  system  to  which  it  succeeded. 

Take  the  vast  empire  of  China  for  instance.  It  is  ruled  by  a 
foreign  dynasty  on  general  principles  of  statecraft.  But  throughout 
all  the  really  Chinese  portions  of  the  empire  the  details  of  the  family 
system  are  retained  with  wonderful  tenacity. 

But  we  need  not  go  so  far  for  examples.  Wherever  we  find  a 
system  of  castes  or  of  privileged  classes,  an  hereditary  nobility  or  a 
state  church,  a  transmissible  community  of  property,  whether  real  or 
personal,  any  inequality  in  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  sane  adult 
individuals  before  the  law,  any  concessions  which  relieve  classes,  or 
persons,  or  sects,  or  societies,  or  sexes  of  their  full  measure  of  liability, 
or  confer  upon  them  privileges  or  deny  them  rights  enjoyed  by  others, 
there  we  are  in  the  presence  of  a  form  of  government  still  clinging  in 
these  respects  to  the  primitive  theories  of  human  society.  The  student 
of  ethnological  jurisprudence  will  class  it  to  this  extent  with  the 
totemic  and  gentile  systems  of  the  lower  and  earlier  strata  of  human 
development. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  by  the  relative  position  of  woman  in  a  tribe 
and  in  an  enlightened  state.  1  could  not  touch  upon  a  weightier  ques- 
tion to  the  somatologist,  for  none  other  so  intimately  relates  to  phy- 
sical anthropology. 

In  spite  of  the  matriarchal  system,  woman  in  all  lower  conditions 


THE   NATION  AS   AN   ELEMENT  IN  ANTHROPOLOGY.  33 

of  society  is  treated  as  inferior  to  man  and  is  deprived  of  many  rights 
which  he  enjoys.  The  exceptions  to  this  are  extremely  rare,  if  any 
really  exist.  The  cause  of  her  inferiority  is  solely  her  less  physical 
powers;  it  has  ever  been  because  she  is  bodily  the  weaker.  The  forms 
of  marriage  have  made  no  difference.  Whether  a  man  could  legally 
take  to  himself  a  multitude  of  wives,  or  whether,  as  in  Thibet  to-day, 
a  woman  could  legally  take  a  multitude  of  husbands;  whether  she  was 
bought  openly  in  the  matrimonial  market,  or  whether,  as  in  this 
country,  she  could  pick  and  choose  at  will  from  all  her  admirers; 
whether  polygamy  or  monogamy  prevails,  she  has  ever  been  treated 
as  man's  inferior,  disallowed  equal  rights,  prevented  from  equal 
liberty.     So  it  remains  to-day,  though  with  some  improvement. 

At  first  she  was  but  a  slave  and  a  beast  of  burden;  at  present,  so 
far  as  the  enjoyment  of  civic  rights  in  modern  states  is  concerned,  she 
has  risen  to  be  classed  among  idiots  and  children.  Surely  we  may 
hope  that  she  has  not  yet  attained  the  acme  of  her  evolution. 

A  peculiar  interest  is  attached  to  the  development  of  this  inquiry 
by  the  fact  that  it  was  originally  an  American  contribution  to  our 
science.  The  first  who  clearly  pointed  out  the  distinction  between 
gentile  and  political  conditions  of  society,  that  is,  between  the  tribe 
and  the  state,  was  the  late  Mr.  Lewis  H.  Morgan;  and,  although  we 
have  been  obliged  materially  to  modify  many  of  his  opinions,  to  him 
belongs  the  credit  of  being  the  earliest  to  present  in  scientific  form  this 
important  truth  in  anthropology.  He  did  not  perceive  very  clearly  its 
bearings  on  physical  anthropology,  to  which  1  have  referred  above, 
but  he  was  fully  awake  to  the  potent  agency  of  the  state,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  tribe,  on  the  psychical  nature  of  man.  The  follow- 
ing sentence  from  his  chapter  on  the  evolution  of  Greek  culture  will 
show  this: 

"  That  remarkable  development  of  genius  and  intelligence  which 
raised  the  Athenians  to  the  highest  eminence  among  the  historical 
nations  of  mankind  occurred  after  they  had  adopted  democratic  insti- 
tutions, and  these  gave  its  inspiration." 

By  "  democratic  institutions"  Mr.  Morgan  meant  the  substitution 
of  a  national  for  a  tribal  life. 

But  it  would  be  an  error  to  consider  the  state  as  we  now  know  it, 
even  in  its  best  examples,  as  the  final  form  which  this  element  will 
take  in  molding  the  body  and  the  mind  of  man,  his  aspirations  and 
his  ethical  instincts.  Already  there  are  evident  signs  that  at  no  very 
distant  future  the  human  race  will  outgrow  the  limits  of  Nationality 


34  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

and  will  demand  and  find  some  guiding  principle  which  will  break 
down  the  barriers  which  the  Nation,  under  present  conditions,  must 
perforce  erect  around  itself;  which  will  do  away  with  the  latent  hos- 
tility which  now  requires  the  maintenance  of  enormous  military  estab- 
lishments, and  will  successfully  solve  the  problem  of  absolutely  con- 
serving the  rights  of  the  individual  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of 
the  organization. 

It  is  easy  to  predict  from  what  direction  and  under  what  impulses 
this  desirable  result  will  be  brought  about.  Every  year  is  making  it 
clearer  to  the  eye  of  the  attentive  observer;  and  never  anywhere  or  at 
any  time  has  there  been  in  the  history  of  humanity  a  grander  example 
of  its  growth  and  potency  than  here,  at  this  moment,  we  have  spread 
before  our  admiring  gaze.  It  is  by  means  of  international  action, 
through  associations  and  organizations  formed  for  international  pur- 
poses, that  the  highest  and  ultimate  efficiency  of  government  will  be 
reached;  and  then  it  will  be  discovered  to  be  one  with  anthropology, 
the  science  of  man,  the  discovery  of  the  laws  which  will  lead  him  to 
the  utmost  symmetrical  development  of  all  his  faculties,  to  his  max- 
imum efficiency,  to  his  highest  happiness. 


PHYSICAL  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


PHYSICAL  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

THE  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIAN. 

BY  DR.  FRANZ  BOAS. 

OUR  knowledge  of  the  anthropology  of  North  America  is  based 
mainly  upon  the  discussion  of  a  number  of  important 
anthropological  collections.  First  among  these  must  be 
mentioned  the  famous  Morton  collection  now  in  the  possession 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  in  Philadelphia,  which  forms 
the  basis  of  Morton  and  Meigs'  famous  investigations.  A  large 
collection  relating  particularly  to  prehistoric  American  peoples  has 
grown  up  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  the  reports  of  the  Pea- 
body  Museum  contain  much  valuable  material  on  our  subject. 
Perhaps  the  largest  collection  is  that  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Medical 
Museum  in  Washington,  a  published  catalogue  of  which  has  made 
accessible  a  vast  amount  of  anthropological  material.  But  all  of  these 
data  taken  together  have  not  been  sufficient  to  delineate  in  a  satisfac- 
tory manner  the  distribution  of  types  of  man  in  North  America. 

Investigations  on  osteological  material,  particularly  on  material 
collected  among  modern  tribes,  are  always  unsatisfactory,  in  that  the 
identification  of  the  skull,  regarding  its  tribe  and  sex,  often  remains 
doubtful.  Neither  is  it  certain  if  we  have  to  deal  with  the  remains  of 
full-blood  Indians  or  with  those  of  half-breeds.  It  appears,  therefore, 
that  for  a  more  thorough  investigation  of  the  anthropology  of  North 
American  Indians  an  investigation  on  living  individuals  is  indispensable. 
When  the  plans  for  the  Department  of  Ethnology  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  were  being  formed,  Professor  Putnam  decided 
to  include  an  investigation  of  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  North 
American  Indians  in  his  work,  and  entrusted  me  with  its  organization. 
A  number  of  young  men,  principally  college  students  interested  in  this 
work,  were  instructed  in  the  method  of  taking  the  observations.  The 
material  obtained  through  their  agency  has  been  the  basis  of  the 
exhibit  on  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  North  American  Indian. 
The  material  consists  of  measurements  of  about  17,000  full-blood  and 


38  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

half-breed  Indians  which  are  distributed  all  over  the  North  American 
continent  with  the  exception  of  the  Arctic  coast  and  the  Mackenzie 

Basin. 

Before  I  begin  to  describe  the  results  of  this  extensive  inquiry  I 
may  be  permitted  to  dwell  briefly  upon  the  leading  considerations  of 
the  investigations. 

The  present  generation  of  Indians  is  mixed  to  a  considerable 
extent  with  whites  and  negroes,  so  much  so  that  in  certain  regions  it  is 
impossible  to  find  a  full-blood  individual.  Thus  the  numerous  tribes 
of  the  Iroquois,  Cherokees,  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws  contain  very 
few  full-blood  individuals,  if  any.  Tribes  which  were  once  numerous 
and  which  inhabited  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  have  entirely 
disappeared,  or  an  insignificant  rest  only  survives.  It  appeared 
practically  impossible  to  secure  adequate  data  for  the  whole  region 
embracing  New  England,  the  Middle  States  and  the  Southern  States. 
On  the  other  hand  the  great  frequency  of  half-breeds  among  all  these 
tribes  made  an  investigation  on  these  races  very  interesting.  1  decided, 
therefore,  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the  question  regarding  the 
anthropology  of  the  half-breeds.  In  fact,  this  has  proved  to  be  one 
of  the  most  fruitful  fields  of  the  investigation. 

In  studying  the  characteristics  of  various  Indian  tribes  as  found  by 
our  observers,  the  question  arises  how  to  arrange  them.  On  general 
principles  it  seemed  best  to  consider  the  tribes  simply  as  geographical 
groups  and  to  treat  the  results  also  from  a  geographical  standpoint. 
Following  this  principle,  a  number  of  tribes  have  been  subdivided 
according  to  their  present  location.  Thus  the  Ojibway,  who  inhabit  a 
laige  part  of  Canada,  are  divided  into  an  eastern  and  a  western  section. 
On  the  other  hand  groups  of  small  tribes  which  inhabit  the  same 
region,  and  which  show  no  differences  in  type,  have  been  combined. 

In  order  to  define  more  clearly  what  is  meant  by  a  certain  type,  I 
will  say  that  I  consider  the  types  as  merely  representing  a  series  of 
forms  found  in  a  certain  district.  For  convenience  sake  the  names  of 
the  tribes  among  whom  these  types  have  been  collected  have  been 
adopted  for  designating  the  types.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  types 
which  have  been  established  are  considered  as  original  types  of  the 
respective  peoples.  The  people  itself  may  have  become  mixed  in 
the  course  of  the  centuries  with  numerous  other  peoples,  so  much  so 
that  its  original  type  may  have  disappeared  entirely.  There  is  no 
necessary  correlation  between  the  social  unit  which  we  call  a  tribe  and 
the  physical  unit  which  constitutes  the  characteristics  of  the  individuals 


THE    ANTHROPOLOGY   OF   THE   NORTH    AMERICAN   INDIAN.        39 

of  a  certain  region.  The  physical  type  is  the  result  of  the  complex 
descent  of  a  people  and  of  the  elTect  of  the  surroundings  upon  its 
physical  development.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  political  and 
social  organizations  which  we  call  tribes  or  nations.  Therefore,  if  in 
the  following  1  speak  of  types  of  the  Sioux,  or  of  Californians,  it 
must  be  understood  that  1  do  not  mean  the  types  of  the  primitive 
Sioux  tribe  or  the  primitive  tribes  of  California,  but  rather  that  I 
mean  simply  the  types  of  the  people  inhabiting  at  present  the  regions 
occupied  by  the  Sioux  or  by  the  Californian  tribes. 

It  was  necessary  to  contlne  the  series  of  measurements  to  the  most 
important  ones,  and  particularly  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  the  removal 
of  clothing.  Only  by  this  restriction  could  a  sufficient  number  of 
measurements  be  secured.  It  has  been  my  endeavor  to  establish  dif- 
ferences of  types  only  in  such  cases  where  the  number  of  cases  was 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  differences  were  real,  not  accidental.  In 
tracing  such  differences  it  was  particularly  necessary  to  correct  errors 
and  inaccuracies  of  observation.  In  order  to  remedy  this  I  have 
endeavored  to  obtain  two  independent  series  of  observations  on  each 
tribe,  taken  by  different  observers  and  at  different  times.  Whenever 
there  was  a  reason  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  an  observer  his  returns 
have  been  excluded. 

I  turn  now  to  consider  the  results  obtained  by  our  investigations. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  number  of  Indians  is  decreasing. 
This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  mixed-bloods  leave  the  tribes,  but 
partly  also  to  the  actual  reduction  in  numbers.  It  seemed  of  impor- 
tance to  know  if  this  fact  is  due  to  the  small  number  of  births  or  to 
other  causes,  and  also  to  compare  the  increase  among  half-breeds  with 
that  among  full-blood  Indians.  For  this  purpose  statistics  have  been 
collected  regarding  the  number  of  children  of  Indian  and  half-breed 
women.  It  appears  from  these  statistics  that  Indian  women  of  more 
than  forty  years  have  on  an  average,  approximately,  six  children,  while 
half-breed  women  have  on  an  average  from  seven  to  eight  children. 
When  the  frequency  of  cases  of  women  who  have  no  children,  or  only 
two,  three,  four,  five  children,  etc.,  are  plotted,  it  appears  that  the 
smaller  numbers  of  children  are  very  much  more  frequent  among  the 
Indians  than  among  the  half-breeds,  while  the  higher  numbers  of 
children  are  much  more  frequent  among  the  half-breeds  than  among 
the  Indians;  that  is  to  say,  we  find  the  rather  unexpected  result  that  the 
fertility  among  half-breed  women  is  considerably  larger  than  among 
full-blood  women.    The  average  number  of  children  of  Indian  women 


40  THE  INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

is  also  high,  and  therefore  the  decrease  in  their  numbers  can  only  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  there  exists  a  very  high  infant  mortality. 

In  comparing  the  measurements  of  the  head  and  of  the  face  of 
Indians  with  those  of  whites  we  find  the  most  striking  difference  to 
be  in  the  dimensions  of  the  transversal  diameters  of  the  face.  On  an 
average  the  breadth  of  face  of  the  Indian  is  one  centimetre  more  than 
that  of  the  American  white.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  face  of 
the  latter  is  exceedingly  narrow  and  that  in  Europe,  particularly  in 
its  eastern  portions,  we  find  faces  which  are  considerably  wider. 

It  is  of  interest  to  investigate  the  breadth  of  face  of  the  half-breed 
in  order  to  see  if  it  stands  between  the  measurements  of  the  parental 
races,  and  if  it  is  nearer  the  one  than  the  other.  For  this  purpose  I 
have  computed  the  breadth  of  face  of  children  of  full-blood  Indians, 
half-breeds  and  whites  from  year  to  year,  beginning  with  the  fourth 
year.  The  tabulation  shows  that  the  diiference  which  was  noted  be- 
tween the  adults  exists  just  as  markedly  among  children.  The  faces 
grow  in  such  a  way  that  the  relation  of  the  three  groups  always  re. 
mains  the  same.  The  breadth  of  face  of  half-breeds  stands  always 
between  that  of  the  Indians  and  that  of  the  whites,  but  so  that  it  is 
always  nearer  the  former.  This  is  the  case  among  boys  as  well  as 
among  girls.  Thus  we  find  the  remarkable  fact  that  at  least  in  this 
one  respect  the  half-breed  is  always  more  alike  to  the  Indian  than  to 
the  whites. 

When  we  consider  the  color  and  structure  of  the  hair  the  same 
fact  becomes  clear:  light  hair  is  of  very  rare  occurrence  among  half- 
breeds;  they  have  almost  always  the  peculiar  dark  and  coarse  Indian 
hair;  the  colors  of  the  eyes  show  also  the  same  phenomenon.  There- 
fore we  may  safely  say  that  the  half-breed  resembles  his  Indian  parent 
more  than  his  white  parent.  Two  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  this 
fact.  It  may  be  that  the  dark  hair  and  the  wide  face  are  more  prim- 
itive characteristics  of  man  than  the  narrow  face  and  light  eyes  of 
the  whites.  Then  we  might  say  that  the  characteristics  of  the  Indian 
ar  inherited  with  greater  strength  because  they  are  older.  It  must, 
however,  also  be  considered  that  half-breeds  are  almost  always 
descendants  of  Indian  mothers  and  white  fathers,  and  this  may 
have  had  an  influence,  although  there  is  no  proof  that  children 
resemble  their  mothers  more  than  their  fathers.  There  is  another 
peculiarity  of  the  measurements  of  full-bloods  and  half-breeds  which 
is  worth  remarking.  If  we  count  all  the  individuals  who  have  a  cer- 
tain breadth  of  face,  say  140,  141,  142  millimetres,  etc.,  it  is  found 


THE  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIAN.         41 

that  the  measurement  of  148  millimetres,  which  is  approximately  the 
average  measurement,  is  the  one  which  is  most  frequent.  Among 
Indians  it  occurs  16  times  among  each  100  individuals.  Among 
whites  the  most  frequent  measurement  for  the  breadth  of  face  is  l38 
millimetres,  which  also  occurs  about  16  times  among  each  100  indi- 
viduals. The  average  measurement  of  the  half-breeds  is  about  144 
millimetres.  This,  however,  occurs  only  about  10  times  among 
each  100  individuals.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  compare  the  fre- 
queney  of  occurrence  of  excessively  wide  faces  and  excessively  narrow 
faces  as  compared  to  the  average  of  each  group,  we  see  that  they  are 
more  frequent  among  the  mixed  races  than  among  the  pure  races.  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  the  half-breeds  ditfer  among  themselves  more 
than  do  the  pure  races.  But  still  another  phenomenon  is  of  importance. 
While  the  average  measurement  of  144  millimetres  occurs  only  10 
times  among  each  100  individuals,  those  of  140  millimetres  and  146 
millimetres  occur  each  12  times  among  each  100  individuals.  Thus 
it  appears  that  the  middle  form  is  not  as  frequent  as  forms  similar  to 
those  of  the  parental  races.  It  may  seem  that  the  difference  of  fre- 
quency mentioned  here  is  not  very  great.  It  appears,  however,  that 
this  irregularity  occurs  in  all  tabulations  of  measurements  of  half- 
breeds:  therefore,  it  must  have  some  significance,  I  will  call  to  mind 
here  that  the  same  conclusion  has  been  drawn  by  Francis  Galton  from 
his  investigations  on  heredity;  that  Dr.  von  Luschan  has  also  arrived^ 
at  the  same  conclusion  when  considering  the  forms  of  skulls  of  Asia 
Minor;  and  that  tlnally  the  anthropometric  investigations  on  the  sol- 
diers enlisted  in  Baden  have  given  the  same  results.  We  may  there- 
fore say  with  a  high  degree  of  probability  that  in  the  human  race  the 
effect  of  intermixture  is  not  to  produce  a  middle  type,  but  that  there  is 
a  tendency  to  reproduce  ancestral  traits.  I  shall  revert  to  this  matter 
later  on. 

The  study  of  the  stature  of  half-breeds  reveals  biological  laws 
of  an  entirely  different  character.  The  white  element  which  enters  into 
the  composition  of  the  half-breeds  is  very  largely  of  French  descent. 
As  the  American  French  are  not  a  very  tall  race,  we  may  safely  say 
that  the  white  element  entering  into  the  composition  of  the  half-breeds 
is  not  very  tall.  Statistics  of  the  stature  of  Indians  show  that  they 
may  conveniently  be  classified  in  three  groups  :  Tall  tribes,  measur- 
ing more  than  170  cm.;  tribes  of  middle  stature,  measuring  from 
166  to  170  cm.,  and  short  tribes,  measuring  less  than  166  cm. 
When  we  compare  the  statures  of  the  tall  tribes  singly  or  collectively 


42  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

with  those  cf  the  half-breeds  of  the  same  tribes  we  find  that  the  latter 
are  always  taller  than  the  full-blood  Indians.  This  fact  and  the 
increased  fertility  among  half-breed  women  would  tend  to  show  that 
the  mixture  of  races  results  in  an  increased  vitality.  The  difference 
in  favor  of  the  half-breed  is  so  striking  that  no  doubt  can  be  enter- 
tained as  to  its  actual  existence.  1  believe  the  cause  of  this  fact  must 
be  considered  to  be  wholly  in  the  elTects  of  intermixture,  as  the  social 
surroundings  of  the  half-breeds  and  of  the  Indians  are  so  much  alike 
that  they  cannot  cause  the  existing  differences. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  average  stature  of  half-breeds  belong- 
ing to  the  tribes  of  middle  stature  is  still  more  in  excess  of  that  of  the 
pure  bloods,  as  in  this  case  the  average  stature  of  the  white  race  is 
probably  greater  than  that  of  the  Indians.  The  difference  is  finally 
still  more  sharply  marked  among  the  shortest  tribes  of  Indians. 

Very  peculiar  conditions  are  revealed  by  the  comparison  of  the 
laws  of  growth  of  full-blood  and  half-breed  children.  We  have  seen 
that  the  adult  full-blood  is  shorter  than  the  adult  half-breed.  Curiously 
enough  the  reverse  is  the  case  among  children.  Until  the  tenth  year 
of  boys  and  until  the  ninth  year  of  girls  the  full-blood  child  is  taller 
than  the  half-breed  child,  while  beginning  at  this  period  the  full-blood 
child  lags  behind.  Thus  it  is  shown  that  the  rate  of  growth  among 
the  half-breeds  is  throughout  greater  than  among  the  Indians.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  carry  out  this  comparison  and  to  include  the 
whites,  but  the  social  conditions  of  the  latter  are  so  different  that  the 
comparison  cannot  be  made  advantageously.  The  phenomenon  that 
the  half-breed  children  are  shorter  than  the  Indian  children  of  the  same 
age  is  found  not  only  among  the  tall  tribes,  but  also  among  those  of 
middle  stature.  I  am  unable  to  say  if  it  also  exists  among  tribes  of 
shortest  stature,  as  I  have  not  a  sufficient  number  of  half-breed  children 
from  tribes  of  the  shortest  stature  at  my  disposal.  The  comparison 
of  rate  of  growth  of  boys  and  girls  of  the  same  ages  is  also  instructive. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  for  about  three  years,  from  the  twelfth  to 
the  fourteenth  year,  white  girls  are  taller  than  white  boys.  This  period 
of  superiority  of  growth  of  the  former  is  marked  very  indistinctly 
among  the  North  American  Indians.  It  is  a  little  more  clearly  defined 
among  half-breeds,  but  not  as  distinct  as  among  whites. 

The  results  regarding  the  growth  of  Indians  are  not  quite  satis- 
factory on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  information  regard- 
ing the  exact  ages  of  Indian  children.  Only  in  comparatively  few 
cases  is  the  actual  age  of  an  Indian  child  known.     In  most  cases  it  is 


THE  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIAN.  43 

estimated  more  or  less  accurately  by  the  observer  and  by  the  help  of 
persons  who  are  acquainted  with  the  Indian  families.  As  this  is  true 
of  both  Indians  and  half-breeds  the  same  conditions  aflfect  both  series 
and  make  the  results  of  the  investigations  comparable.  One  point, 
however,  must  be  borne  in  mind.  The  individuals  composing  the 
young  classes  are  not  comparable  to  the  individuals  composing  the 
older  classes,  because  in  the  former  there  are  many  who  die  before 
reaching  the  age  represented  by  the  latter  class.  We  do  not  know  if 
the  measurements  of  the  body  are  not  in  some  way  connected  with 
the  probability  of  death  before  a  certain  age.  This  objection  holds 
good  of  the  results  of  all  investigations  referring  to  growth  which  are 
obtained  according  to  what  Hertel  calls  the  general  method. 

I  turn  to  the  discussion  of  the  distribution  of  stature  in  North 
America.  On  the  whole,  the  North  American  Indians  may  be  called 
a  tall  people.  In  studying  the  distribution  of  statures  several  difficulties 
are  encountered.  The  tribes  have  changed  their  mode  of  life  and  their 
residence  often.  It  is  well  known  that  stature  depends  to  a  great  ex- 
tent upon  surroundings.  Therefore  the  stature  which  we  observe  at 
present  cannot  be  transferred,  as  it  were,  to  the  region  inhabited  by 
the  tribe  under  consideration  even  a  short  time  ago.  One  of  the  most 
striking  examples  is  furnished  by  the  Cherokees.  As  well  known,  the 
bulk  of  this  people  was  transferred  to  Indian  Territory  a  number  of 
years  ago,  while  a  certain  number  remained  among  the  mountains  of 
North  Carolina.  At  present  the  stature  of  the  latter  people  isdecidedy 
shorter  than  that  of  the  Cherokee  of  the  plains.  Here  we  may  have  a 
good  example  of  the  effect  of  surroundings,  but  it  may  also  be  that 
the  greater  admixture  of  foreign  blood  among  the  people  of  the  plains 
had  the  effect  of  raising  their  average  stature.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  Iroquois,  Choctaws  and  Creeks,  who  are  among  the  tallest  tribes  of 
North  America.  Looking  at  the  continent  as  a  whole,  the  tallest  statures 
may  be  said  to  be  found  on  the  plains.  The  mountainous  regions  of 
the  Southeast  and  of  the  West  contain  the  people  of  the  shortest  stature. 
The  whole  Mississippi  Valley  is  taken  up  by  a  very  tall  people.  When 
we  proceed  further  northward  towards  North  Manitoba  and  the 
Saskatchewan,  the  statures  become  shorter.  Great  differences  in  size 
are  also  found  north  and  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  the  Mon- 
tagnais  on  the  north  side  being  very  much  shorter  than  the  Micmacs 
on  the  south  side.  The  Athapascan  tribes  of  New  Mexico  are  of  middle 
stature  only.  Scattered  among  them  we  find  the  extremely  short 
Pueblos.     The  Shoshone,  Sahaptin  and  Salish  tribes,  of  the  Rocky 


44  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Mountains,  are  of  middle  stature.  As  we  approach  the  Pacific  coast 
the  distribution  of  statures  becomes  more  irregular.  The  most  remark- 
able facts  in  this  region  are  the  increase  of  exceedingly  short  statures 
on  the  coast  of  Southern  British  Columbia,  on  Puget  Sound,  in  Oregon 
and  in  Northern  California.  With  the  exception  of  the  Eastern  Eskimo 
these  people  are  decidedly  the  shortest  among  all  the  North  Americans. 
It  is  very  instructive  to  notice  that  among  these  tribes  of  short  statures 
taller  people  extend  along  Columbia  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  As 
the  mode  of  life  of  these  people  is  identical,  we  must  consider  them 
the  descendants  of  a  taller  people. 

The  distribution  of  statures  in  Northern  California  does  not  de- 
pend alone  upon  more  or  less  favorable  conditions.  Thus  the  consid- 
erable difference  between  the  tribes  of  Hoopa  Valley  and  of  Round 
Valley  can  hardly  be  explained  by  any  other  means  than  by  assuming 
that  the  taller  stature  of  the  Hoopa  is  inherited.  From  a  consideration 
of  the  distribution  of  statures  in  North  America  1  turn  to  a  discussion 
of  the  distribution  of  head  forms.  The  principal  proportion  that  has 
been  considered  in  this  connection  is  that  between  length  and  breadth 
of  head,  generally  called  the  cephalic  index.  The  study  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  cephalic  index  in  North  America  is  made  exceedingly 
difficult  by  the  prevailing  custom  of  using  hard  cradle  boards.  This 
has  the  effect  of  flattening  the  occiput  and  thus  produces  short  heads 
where  without  the  use  of  the  hard  cradle  board  long  heads  would  be 
found.  Besides  this  the  tissues  covering  the  occiput  are  so  extremely 
thick  among  the  Indians  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  discover  a  moderate 
degree  of  flattening.  The  apparent  frequency  of  short  heads  among 
the  Winnebagos,  Osages  and  Apaches  is  entirely  due  to  artificial, 
although  unintentional  flattening.  The  comparison  of  head  forms 
must  therefore  be  restricted  to  regions  where  no  deformation  is  found. 

The  whole  Mississippi  Valley  is  inhabited  by  people  whose 
cephalic  index  is  approximately  79,  that  is  to  say,  a  mesocephalic 
people  nearly  approaching  brachycephalism.  Around  the  Great  Lakes 
an  increase  in  this  index  is  found  which  disappears  again  further  east. 
The  Eastern  Arctic  coast  is  characterized  by  the  prevalence  of  the  long 
heads  of  the  Eskimo.  On  the  North  Pacific  coast  and  in  isolated  spots 
along  the  coast  we  find  exceedingly  short-headed  types,  mainly  repre- 
sented by  members  of  the  Athapascan  stock  and  extending  down  the 
Rio  Grande  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Scattered  between  these  we  find 
another  long-headed  type,  which  seems  to  be  most  frequent  in  South- 
ern California,  extending  northward  to  the  boundary  of  Oregon  and 


THE  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIAN.  45 

probably  occupying  the  Sonora  and  the  pueblos  of  Queres  and  Santa 
Clara,  it  is  not  possible  to  consider  these  four  types  as  closely  re- 
lated. Each  of  them  is  well  characterized,  and  there  seems  no  possi- 
bility of  combining  them  with  any  of  the  other  types.  The  best 
known  among  these  types  is  that  of  the  Eastern  Eskimo.  Besides 
the  great  length  of  head,  they  are  remarkable  for  the  great  height  of 
head  and  wide  face  combined  with  an  exceedingly  narrow  nose.  The 
Indian  of  the  Misissippi  Valley  is  characterized  by  a  large  head,  meso- 
cephalic,  with  long  occiput,  wide  and  large  face  and  wide  nose.  His 
color  is  light  and  assumes  the  so-called  copper  hue  only  after  expos- 
ure to  the  sun  and  air.  The  brachycephalic  type  of  the  Pacific  coast 
is  at  the  same  time  short  of  stature,  of  light  skin,  with  an  enormously 
wide  face  and  narrow  nose,  which  is  remarkably  flat  for  an  Indian 
nose.  The  Californian  type  is  best  known  through  a  series  of  skulls 
from  the  Southern  Californian  islands.  It  is  rather  low,  with  narrow 
nose  and  moderately  wide  face. 

The  distribution  of  cephalic  indices  among  a  few  tribes  deserves 
particular  mention.  The  Micmacs  of  Nova  Scotia  show  the  pecu- 
liarity that  very  low  indices  occur  much  more  frequently  among  them 
than  among  any  other  Indian  tribe  of  the  eastern  part  of  North 
America.  When  we  compare  the  distribution  of  indices  among  an- 
cient skulls  from  New  England  with  the  series  of  the  Micmacs,  it  be- 
comes clear  that  both  series  are  very  much  alike.  As  1  stated  before, 
indices  as  low  as  these  are  not  found  anywhere  else  except  on  the 
Arctic  coast.  I  consider  this  conclusive  evidence  of  an  intermixture 
with  Eskimo  blood.  It  is  well  known  that  arch^ological  facts  tend  to 
indicate  that  the  Eskimo  must  have  lived  along  the  coast  of  New  Eng- 
land at  one  time.  It  is  therefore  of  interest  to  note  that  this  conclu- 
sion is  borne  out  by  anthropological  evidence.  If  we  grant  this  point, 
the  irregularity  of  distribution  of  the  cephalic  indices  among  the  Mic- 
macs may  also  be  considered  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  theory 
advanced  above,  that  the  intermixture  of  tribes  does  not  produce  a 
middle  type. 

Another  series  of  peculiar  interest  is  that  of  the  Ojibway  and  of 
the  Menominee.  In  comparing  the  variability  of  the  cephalic  index 
of  the  various  tribes  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  eastward  to  the  Great 
Lakes,  we  notice  that  there  is  a  constant  increase  from  west  eastward. 
This  means  that  among  the  western  tribes  most  individuals  are  similar 
to  the  average  individual,  while  among  the  eastern  tribes  the  ditkrences 
among  individuals  composing  the  same  tribe  are  greater.   When  plot- 


46  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ting  the  cephalic  indices  of  the  Eastern  Ojibways  we  find  that  the  same 
index  which  is  found  farther  west,  namely  79,  is  the  one  most  fre- 
quent, and  that  the  index  of  83  is  also  very  frequent,  while  those 
indices  lying  between  79  and  83  are  not  as  frequent.  This  peculiar 
fact  exists  in  the  series  for  men,  women,  boys  and  girls;  therefore, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  there  must  be  some  cause  for  it.  By 
investigating  more  closely  the  distribution  of  indices  among  the  West- 
ern Ojibway,  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  index  of  83  is  still  more 
frequent  than  it  would  be  if  the  distribution  followed  the  laws  of 
chance.  For  this  reason  1  conclude  that  there  must  have  been  among 
these  tribes  an  intermixture  of  another  tribe  having  an  index  of  83. 
It  is  difficult  to  decide  who  these  people  may  have  been,  but  it  is 
certain  that  they  must  have  been  located  around  the  Great  Lakes. 
An  investigation  of  the  prehistoric  skulls  from  this  region  shows  that 
the  index  of  83  was  very  frequent  at  that  time,  so  that  we  may  be 
justified  in  the  conclusion  that  we  find  here  the  surviving  members  of 
the  prehistoric  population  of  the  region  scattered  among  the  present 
Indians. 

I  will  call  attention  here  to  the  peculiar  fact,  that  in  several 
series  of  measurements  of  the  cephalic  index  we  find  two  maxima 
of  frequency  and  a  minimum  of  frequency  between  the  two  maxima. 
As  the  series  at  our  disposal  do  not  exceed  two  or  three  hundred, 
except  in  a  very  few  cases,  these  minima  of  frequency  might  be  con- 
sidered accidental.  They  occur,  however,  at  the  same  point  in  the 
series  of  women,  boys  and  girls.  Therefore,  we  must  conclude  that 
their  occurrence  is  not  due  to  the  limited  number  of  observations, 
but  to  some  actual  reason.  As  mentioned  before,  this  minimum 
is  found  .markedly  in  the  distribution  of  the  cephalic  index  of  the 
Eastern  Ojibway.  It  is  just  as  strongly  emphasized  among  the 
Sioux;  but  in  this  case  the  curve  of  the  men  dilTers  considerably 
from  that  of  women,  boys  and  girls,  there  being  only  one  maximum 
in  the  first  curve.  We  find  only  a  certain  irregularity  indicating  that 
there  are  more  individuals  corresponding  to  the  secondary  maximum 
among  women  and  children  than  would  be  expected  in  a  probability 
curve.  I  consider  these  irregularities  of  the  curves  of  considerable 
importance,  as  they  show  conclusively  that  anthropometric  curves  are 
not  always  probability  curves.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  theoretical 
importance,  and  must  be  considered  in  the  statistical  investigations 
of  the  characteristics  of  certain  races.  Wherever  we  find  curves  which 
show  two  maxima  or  which  are  not  probability  curves,  we  have  no 


THE  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIAN.         47 

right  to  consider  the  average  as  a  type  representing  the  people  under 
consideration.  In  all  such  cases,  a  detailed  discussion  of  their  distri- 
bution is  necessary  to  obtain  satisfactory  results.  In  order  to  give  an 
instance:  It  is  easily  seen  that  if  the  biological  law  which  I  mentioned 
several  times  before  in  the  present  remarks  is  correct,  —  namely,  that 
the  offspring  of  ^  mixed  race  has  a  tendency  to  revert  to  the  parental 
types  and  not  to  form  middle  types  —  then  we  must  expect  that  in  a 
mixed  race,  the  composing  elements  of  which  show  great  differences, 
maxima  of  frequency  of  two  certain  forms  must  be  found  which 
resemble  the  forms  of  the  ancestors  and  that  one  minimum  is  found 
representing  the  mixed  form.  If  then  we  should  interpret  the  observ- 
ations in  such  a  way  as  to  say  that  the  average  is  the  typical  form  of 
this  series  we  should  draw  a  wrong  inference.  The  average  in  such  a 
case  would  have  no  meaning  whatever,  while  the  two  maxima  would 
indicate  the  types  composing  the  mixed  race. 

If  the  two  parental  types  do  not  differ  very  much,  we  should  not 
find  a  distribution  of  forms  showing  two  maxima,  but  the  intermix- 
ture would  have  the  result  of  producing  a  more  variable  race.  We 
might,  therefore,  expect  to  find  increased  variability  whenever  two 
distinct  types  come  into  contact.  There  are  several  good  examples 
of  this  kind.  The  Kootenay  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  who  have 
intermarried  with  the  Salish  of  British  Columbia  and  Montana  and 
with  the  Blackfeet  of  the  Plains,  are  among  the  most  variable  of  the 
North  American  tribes.  I  believe  the  cause  of  this  phenomenon  must 
be  looked  for  in  the  fact  that  the  Blackfeet  are  longheaded  while 
the  Salish  are  decidedly  shortheaded.  The  Bella  Coola  of  British 
Columbia  occupy  a  similar  position  between  the  rather  longheaded 
tribes  of  the  coast  and  the  shortheaded  tribes  of  the  interior.  In  this 
case,  also,  the  effect  is  an  increased  variability.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  the  tribes  on  the  coast  of  Oregon. 

The  distribution  of  types  upon  the  Pacific  coast  deserves  particu- 
lar discussion.  Beginning  at  the  Arctic  coast  we  tlnd  the  longheaded 
Eskimo.  The  difference  between  this  group  of  Eskimo  and  those  of 
Eastern  Arctic  America  is  very  remarkable.  Their  heads  are  decidedly 
shorter.  As  they  adjoin  all  along  the  coast  shortheaded  people,  it 
seems  that  the  decrease  of  their  cephalic  index  is  due  to  the  intermix- 
ture of  Indian  blood.  While  on  the  eastern  coast  of  America  \\e  tind 
the  characteristics  of  the  Eskimo  type  to  extend  t6  a  considerable  dis- 
tance southward,  on  the  Pacific  coast  this  type  ends  apparently  near 
the  peninsula  of  Alaska.   The  Aleutians,  although  speaking  a  language 


48  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

allied  to  the  Eskimo,  represent  an  exceedingly  shortheaded  type.  This 
is  true  of  the  prehistoric  skulls  as  well  as  of  recent  ones.  Continuing 
down  the  coast,  we  find  theTlingit  of  Southeastern  Alaska,  who  repre- 
sent the  same  shortheaded  type,  which  is  evidently  identical  with  the 
Athapascan  type  of  the  interior.  At  the  southern  boundary  of  Alaska 
the  type  suddenly  changes,  and  we  find  a  much  shorter  race,  character- 
ized by  longer  heads,  exceedingly  wide  faces  and  narrow,  high  noses. 
This  type  embraces  all  the  coast  tribes  of  British  Columbia  as  far 
south  as  the  central  portion  of  Vancouver  Island,  with  tne  sole  excep- 
tion of  Bella  Coola,  which  we  mentioned  before.  In  the  southern 
portion  of  Vancouver  Island  there  is  another  sudden  change  of  type. 
Here  we  find  one  of  the  shortest  races  of  North  America,  which  is 
characterized  by  the  most  excessive  brachycephalism,  very  low  faces 
and  flat  noses.  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  type  which  resembles 
it  anywhere  else  in  North  America.  The  peculiarities  of  this  type 
extend  southward  beyond  the  Columbia  River,  but  at  the  same  time 
the  type  represented  by  the  Bella  Coola  and  Tlingit  re-appears  and 
occupies  the  greater  part  of  the  coast  as  far  south  as  Northern  Cali- 
fornia. At  this  place  we  find  another  sudden  change  of  type,  brachy- 
cephalism changes  again  to  dolichocephalism,  the  stature  decreases, 
and  the  faces  become  narrower.  I  am  rather  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  type  of  the  coast  of  British  Columbia  is  closely  related  to  this 
longheaded  California  type.  This  belief  is  based  principally  upon 
the  similarity  in  the  formation  of  the  face.  Unfortunately  I  have 
no  material  at  my  disposal  from  Nevada  and  California  which  would 
serve  to  carry  on  this  sketch  of  the  distribution  of  types  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  but  what  I  have  said  will  be  sufficient  to  show  how  many  prob- 
lems remain  to  be  solved  in  this  region. 

It  would  be  an  interesting  problem  to  compare  the  distribution  of 
types  among  prehistoric  American  races  with  those  found  among  the 
living  Indians.  For  this  purpose  the  measurement  of  skulls  of  a 
number  of  collections  have  been  tabulated,  but  the  results  of  these 
investigations  are  very  unsatisfactory,  as  in  prehistoric  times  the 
custom  of  using  the  hard  cradle  board  and  the  custom  of  artificial 
deformation  was  more  extensive  than  at  present.  An  attempt  has 
been  made  to  distinguish  among  the  prehistoric  skulls  from  Tennessee 
those  which  have  been  deformed  and  those  which  have  almost  their 
natural  shape.  The  result  shows  that  the  least  deformed  skulls  have 
a  very  much  lower  cephalic  index  than  the  general  average,  and  I 
presume  that  if  the  exclusion  of  deformed  skulls  were  carried  out 


THE  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIAN.  49 

rigidly  we  should  find  this  prehistoric  people  approximately  to  have 
the  same  index  as  the  present  population  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
On  account  of  the  great  deformations  the  prehistoric  skulls  have  a 
variability  — that  is,  differences  among  themselves,  which  are  in 
excess  of  anything  that  is  observed  at  the  present  time. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  glean  any  important  conclusions  from 
the  measurement  of  the  face  except  the  one  fact,  that  the  facial  index 
becomes  lower  on  the  Pacific  coast.     " 

I  hope  the  brief  presentation  of  the  results  of  our  studies  will 
show  that  Physical  Anthropology  otfers  a  promising  field  of  study, 
and  that  another  of  the  important  biological  questions  which  await  an 
answer  — The  History  of  the  American  Race  —  will  appear  in  a  new 
light  when  all  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  various  types  are 
taken  into  consideration. 


THE  ANTHROPOMETRY  OF  AMERICAN  SCHOOL 

CHILDREN. 

BY   GERALD   M.    WEST. 

THE  World's  Columbian  Exposition  has,  among  other  things, 
been  the  occasion  of  the  collecting  of  a  mass  of  material  rela- 
tive to  the  laws  governing  the  development  of  children  from 
the  cities  of  Toronto,  Canada,  and  Oakland,  California.  This  material, 
with  that  gathered  in  Boston  by  Prof.  H.  P.  Bowditch,  in  Milwaukee  by 
Dr.  Geo.  Peckham,  in  St.  Louis  by  Dr.  Porter,  and  in  Worcester,  Mass., 
by  the  Anthropological  Department  of  Clark  University,  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  Franz  Boas,  has  increased  the  material  available  for 
study  and  comparison  to  observations  on  ninety  thousand  individuals. 
The  wide  distribution  of  the  material   as  to  territory,  Ontario  and 
the  northern  and  western  portions  of  the   United  States  being  very 
fully  represented,  and  the  great  diversity  of  the  material  as  regards 
nationality  and  social  conditions,  add  greatly  to  the  interest  and  value 
of  the  results.     This  material,  though  quite  as  valuable,  is  of  a  differ- 
ent value  from  that  collected  in  the  various  gymnasiums  and  schools 
of  physical  culture  throughout  the  country,  since  in  the  latter  case, 
except  at  the  time  of  first  entering,  the  subjects  of  observations  are,  if 
I  may  so  speak,  subject  t6  an  artificial  rule  completely  under  their  own 
control,  looking  to  a  definite  result,  that  is,  the  greatest  possible  sym- 
metrical development  of  the  body.     In  the  material  here  collected  there 
is  no  such  modifying  cause,  the  individuals  being  left  to  develop  as 
circumstances  largely  beyond  their  control  may  effect.     The  final  re- 
sults of  such  two  sets  of  observations  might  not  be  expected  to  har- 
monize very  closely.     The  material  has  been  arranged  in  the  various 
ways  best  suited  to  bring  out  the  contrast  between  the  sexes  and  be- 
tween the  various  localities. 

First,  with  regard  to  stature  and  weight,  the  material  has  been 
combined  to  form  a  general  curve  showing  the  average  development 
of  the  whole  population  by  sexes  with  respect  to  these  measurements. 
This  has  necessitated  the  laborious  task  of  reducing  a  large  part  of  the 
material  either  to  a  common  age  or  a  common  unit  of  measurement. 
Next,  the  averages  of  the  various  cities  have  been  compared  with  the 

50 


THE  ANTHROPOMETRY  OF  AMERICAN  SCHOOL  CHILDREN.         5l 

general  average  and  the  results  plotted.  I  have  then  compared  the 
average  stature  of  the  girls  of  each  year  with  that  of  the  boys,  both 
with  respect  to  the  general  population  and  with  respect  to  the  popu- 
lations of  the  individual  cities. 

There  have  also  been  taken  into  consideration  the  measurements 
not  so  generally  made  as  the  two  preceding  ones,  /.  e.,  of  sitting 
height,  and  the  measurements  of  the  head  and  face,  consisting  of 
the  length  and  breadth  of  head  and  face,  and  finally  the  indices,  ceph- 
alic and  sitting  height.  There  is  to  be  considered  a  very  interesting  com- 
parison between  school  children  of  each  sex  as  to  physical  develop- 
ment in  the  light  of  their  mental  ability. 

The  dilTerence  in  development  among  adult  men  and  women 
seems  to  be  the  result  of  two  causes,  the  rate  of  growth  and  the  period 
of  growth.  These  two  factors  seem  to  vary  considerably  with  respect 
to  locality,  social  condition,  sex  and  nationality. 

The  rate  of  growth  varies  slightly  annually,  and  apparently  there 
is  a  well-marked  period  of  maximum  annual  increase  for  the  curves 
of  the  averages,  coming,  subject  to  varying  conditions,  as  sex,  nation- 
ality, etc.,  somewhere  between  the  tenth  and  the  fifteenth  years,  and 
from  one  to  two  years  earlier  in  the  case  of  girls  than  in  the  case  of 
boys.  These  ' '  shoots "  seem  to  be  the  phenomena  most  character- 
istic of  the  various  curves  of  growth.  They  are  absent  from  none 
of  them,  although  in  some  cases  they  are  rather  difficult  to  trace.  This 
latter  fact  is  due  to  the  circumstance  that  the  period  of  the  shoot  is 
not  the  same  for  every  child,  but  varies  with  each  individual  to  such 
an  extent  that  in  a  curve  of  average  of  a  large  series  the  cases  are 
so  widely  and  regularly  distributed  as  to  smoothe  the  curve  to  nearly 
the  appearance  of  a  straight  line.  An  example  of  this  latter  fact  is 
shown  most  strikingly  in  the  curve  of  growth  of  stature  of  the  St. 
Louis  school  children  measured  by  Dr.  Porter. 

A  comparison  of  the  curves  of  growth  of  the  two  sexes  is  most 
interesting  on  account  of  the  manner  in  which  it  brings  out  this  phe- 
nomenon of  the  shoot.  During  a  certain  period,  variable  in  time  of 
beginning  and  in  duration,  girls  approximate  to  or  exceed  the  boys  in 
the  size  of  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  body.  The  beginning  of 
this  period  is  determined  by  the  time  at  which  the  shoot  of  the  girls 
commences,  while  the  termination  of  the  period  is  the  result  of  two 
causes,  the  actual  diminution  in  the  annual  increment  of  the  growth 
of  girls  and  the  increase  in  that  of  boys,  /.  c,  the  beginning  of  the 
boys'  shoot. 


52  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

A  consideration  of  tlie  distribution  of  cases  in  the  various  years 
is  of  value,  as  this  varies  with  age,  sex  and  race.  The  distribution  of 
cases  varies  but  slightly,  though  with  a  certain  regularity,  until  the 
commencement  of  the  period  of  the  shoot,  when  it  becomes  to  a  mark- 
ed degree  broader,  contracting  again  after  the  cessation  of  that  period. 
The  measure  of  this  distribution  is  the  Mean  Variation,  which  practi- 
cally corresponds  in  its  limits  with  Galton's  seventeenth  and  eighty- 
third  percental  grades. 

The  period  of  duration  of  growth  varies  under  the  same  con- 
ditions as  does  the  rate  of  growth.  It  is  much  shorter  in  general 
among  women  than  among  men,  and  to  this  fact  almost  exclusively 
is  to  be  assigned  the  diiference  in  stature,  weight,  etc.,  between  adults 
of  the  two  sexes,  there  being  but  little  diiference  in  the  average  an- 
nual growth  of  the  two  sexes  between  the  fifth  and  the  seventeenth 
years,  the  latter  period  being  the  age  at  which  women  apparently 
reach  their  full  physical  development.  In  the  case  of  men  the  period 
is  much  more  extended,  Baxter  finding  growth  in  stature  to  continue 
until  the  thirty-fifth  year  in  the  general  population,  Gould  finding  it 
to  vary  with  the  nativity  between  the  twenty-third  and  the  thirty- 
ninth  years,  the  mean  age  being  according  to  him  the  twenty*-fourth 
year. 

When  we  come  to  compare  the  average  stature  and  weight  of 
the  school  children  of  the  various  cities  with  that  of  the  average  popu- 
lation, we  find  striking  differences.  The  Worcester  children  are  mark- 
edly above  the  average  in  stature,  while  the  Toronto  and  Boston 
children  are  almost  as  markedly  at  the  opposite  extreme.  The  Oak- 
land and  St.  Louis  children  also  show  opposite  characteristics.  The 
former,  starting  at  five  years  of  age  below  the  general  average,  rise 
above  it  at  the  end  of  the  period  of  growth,  while  the  St.  Louis  chil- 
dren, starting  above,  fall  below  the  average.  The  Milwaukee  children 
represent  more  nearly  the  general  average.  There  is  also  to  be  re- 
marked a  striking  difference  between  the  curves  of  comparative  stat- 
ure of  the  two  sexes  in  the  various  cities.  In  Toronto,  Milwaukee 
and  Boston  the  comparative  curves  for  the  two  sexes  are  near  together. 
In  St.  Louis  they  are  quite  markedly  separated  after  the  fifteenth 
year,  while  in  Oakland,  and  especially  Worcester,  the  difference 
reaches  its  maximum.  The  variations  in  weight  are  much  more 
strongly  marked  than  are  those  of  stature.     Here  again  we  find  the 

♦Thirty? 


THE  ANTHROPOMETRY  OF  AMERICAN  SCHOOL  CHILDREN.  53 

Toronto  children  the  least  well-developed  and  the  Worcester  children 
the  best  developed.  Milwaukee  and  St.  Louis  show  opposite  tenden- 
cies, the  former  increasing  and  the  latter  decreasing  weight  with  respect 
to  the  average.  Boston  occupies  with  reject  to  weight  about  the 
same  position  that  Milwaukee  does  to  the  stature.  They  approach 
nearest  to  the  general  average.  The  comparative  difference  between 
the  sexes  is  not  so  great  here  as  in  the  case  of  stature,  yet  the  ditfer- 
ences  are  sutfkiently  marked,  Worcester  again  showing  the  greatest 
and  Toronto  the  least,  the  others  being,  in  order  of  the  least  to  the 
greatest  diiference,  Boston,  St.  Louis,  Oakland  and  Milwaukee. 

When  we  compare  the  height  of  the  girls  in  percents  of  the  boys' 
statures  of  one  city  with  those  of  other  cities,  we  find  remarkable  dif- 
ferences both  as  to  the  relative  height  of  the  girls  and  the  relative 
length  of  time  they  exceed  the  boys  in  stature.  The  whole  range  of 
percental  difference  between  the  cities  from  the  sixth  to  the  twelfth 
year  is  something  less  than  three  per  cent. ,  at  thirteen  over  six  per  cent. , 
returning  again  at  the  fourteenth  year  and  continuing  at  the  three 
per  cent,  limit  until  about  the  eighteenth  year,  when  it  sinks  to  about 
one-half  per  cent. 

The  cities  in  whicn  the  girls  are  taller  than  the  boys  are,  in  the 
order  of  their  height  from  least  to  greatest,  Oakland,  St.  Louis,  Mil- 
waukee, Boston,  Toronto  and  Worcester.  The  length  of  time  during 
which  the  girls  are  actually  taller  is,  in  Oakland,  tive;  Worcester,  one, 
and  in  the  other  cities  three  years  each.  The  Oakland  girls  exceed 
the  boys  in  height  by  the  tenth  year,  the  Boston  girls  exceed  the  boys 
by  the  eleventh  year,  while  in  the  other  four  cities  the  girls  do  not  ex- 
ceed the  boys  until  the  twelfth  year.  The  boys  do  not  completely  re- 
gain their  supremacy  in  stature  in  Oakland  and  St.  Louis  until  the 
sixteenth  year,  while  in  the  other  four  cities  this  is  regained  by  the 
fifteenth  year. 

The  plotting  of  the  curves  of  distribution  of  weight  and  stature 
for  the  boys  and  girls  from  the  ages  of  live  to  seventeen  brings  out 
well  the  comparative  modifying  effects  of  growth  on  the  material. 
There  is  found  to  be  but  slight  variation  from  the  averages  at  the 
fifth  year,  but  this  variation  increases  quite  rapidly,  though  regularly, 
annually,  as  is  shown  by  the  flattening  of  the  curve, until  we  pass  the 
age  of  accelerated  growth,  beginning  at  about  eleven  years  for  girls 
and  thirteen  for  boys.  From  then  on  the  curves  again  begin  to  in- 
crease their  altitudes,  quite  regularly  as  before,  until  the  adult  age  is 
reached. 


54  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  Or   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

A  remarkable  characteristic  of  these  curves  of  distribution  is  the 
uniformly  greater  and  increasing  length  of  the  upper  arm  of  the  curve 
until  after  the  time  of  accelerated  growth,  indicating  that  the  asym- 
metry is  caused  by  the  fact  that  there  are  some  children  growing  at 
a  rate  greatly  in  advance  of  the  average,  while  there  are  none  who  lag 
an  equal  distance  behind  the  average.  After  the  period  of  acceleration 
the  curve  rapidly  loses  its  asymmetry,  indicating  a  return  to  the  con- 
ditions of  uniformity  prevailing  in  the  earlier  years. 

If  we  compute  the  mean  dilTerences  between  the  general  average 
and  the  averages  for  the  six  American  cities  in  weight  and  stature,  we 
find  that  until  about  the  eleventh  year  the  children  develop  with 
comparative  uniformity,  but  from  that  age  the  modifying  etTects  of 
descent  and  surroundings  are  beginning  to  act,  causing  the  mean  dif- 
ference to  increase  very  markedly.  A  very  valuable  point  is  brought 
out  with  respect  to  the  effect  of  school  life  on  the  physical  develop- 
ment of  children  by  the  Toronto  measurements.  These  children  were 
arranged  into  two  classes,  "good"  and  "poor,"  with  respect  to  their 
mental  ability,  and  the  annual  averages  formed  for  the  two  classes  as 
for  the  general  population.  The  resulting  averages  are  compared  with 
the  city's  general  average  and  the  differences  plotted.  The  diagram  in- 
dicates that  the  "poor"  scholars  are  almost  invariably  the  better  de- 
veloped. The  difference  is  naturally  more  marked  in  stature  than  in 
weight.  The  probable  explanation  for  this  is  that  the  children  ad- 
judged more  able  by  their  teachers  give  more  time  to  study  and  less 
time  to  play  than  do  the  children  of  the  other  class. 

That  the  effect  of  the  annual  rate  of  growth  is  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  that  of  the  length  of  the  period  of  growth  in  determining 
the  adult  stature  of  a  community  in  comparisons  among  the  same 
sex,  I  think  is  quite  conclusively  shown  by  Dr.  Boas'  charts,  showing 
the  curves  of  growth  of  the  children  of  the  three  groups  of  Indians 
into  which  he  has  divided  his  material.  They  are  classified  as  "  tall," 
"medium"  and  "short,"  according  to  the  average  stature  of  the 
adult  males.  In  these  groups  we  find  the  period  of  growth  to  be 
practically  the  same,  while  the  annual  increment  is  less  for  each  group 
in  the  order  named.  While  the  evidence  is  not  so  strong  in  the  case 
of  the  material  gathered  from  the  American  schools,  it  is  nevertheless 
strongly  in  the  same  direction.  The  Worcester  children,  who  are 
largely  of  American  descent  and  of  the  tallest  race,  are  tallest  during 
their  years  of  growth,  while  the  children  of  the  other  cities,  who  are 
much  more  largely  of  foreign  descent,  and  generally  of  a  shorter  race, 


THE  ANTHROPOMETRY  OF  AMERICAN  SCHOOL  CHILDREN.  55 

and  with  the  period  of  growth  varying  but  sHghtly  in  length  from 
that  of  the  Worcester  children,  have  a  much  smaller  annual  incre- 
ment. 

Further,  we  seem  to  find,  on  comparing  children  of  foreign  descent 
born  in  this  country  with  children  of  the  same  descent  born  in  the  na- 
tive land  of  their  parents,  that  the  children  born  here  are  taller  and 
generally  better  developed. 

We  have,  therefore,  two  well-defined  and  antagonistic  elements 
going  to  modify  the  development  of  children :  the  one  conservative 
(heredity),  the  other  progressive  (environment).  We  find  the  effect 
of  heredity  in  the  persistence  of  the  same  ditferences  in  stature, 
between  children  of  ditferent  nationalities  under  similar  circumstances, 
as  appear  under  the  ditferent  circumstances  of  their  various  native 
lands. 

We  find  the  etfect  of  the  favorable  environment  in  the  increase  of 
the  stature  of  the  children  in  America  over  children  of  the  same  race 
in  their  native  land.  The  unfavorable  effects  of  environment  are 
shown  by  the  ditference  in  stature  between  children  of  the  same  race 
in  the  same  country,  as  is  so  well  brought  out  by  Roberts  in  his  in- 
vestigation carried  on  in  England,  where  he  divided  the  material  ac- 
cording to  the  prevailing  castes.  Bowditch  has  also  remarked  this  in 
Boston,  where  he  made  a  somewhat  similar  comparison. 

In  the  case  of  sitting  height  we  have  two  series  not  exactly  com- 
parable, but  generally  so.  These  are  the  Worcester  series  and  the  St. 
Louis  series.  The  St.  Louis  measurements  are  arranged  around  the 
full  year,  i.  e. ,  all  the  individuals  within  six  months  of  a  given  age  are 
thrown  together  as  being  of  that  age.  (The  children  between  five  and 
a  half  and  six  and  a  half  are  grouped  as  of  six  years  of  age. )  The 
Worcester  children  are  grouped  within  the  respective  years,  /.  e., 
children  between  six  and  seven  years  of  age  are  grouped  as  if  six  years 
of  age.  We  see,  therefore,  that  the  Worcester  children  are  for 
each  year  half  a  year  older  than  the  St.  Louis  children  of  the  same 
apparent  age.  Considering  the  Worcester  curve  first,  we  find  the  girls 
and  boys  to  be  about  the  same  length  of  body  at  five  years  of  age,  but 
the  boys  grow  a  little  more  rapidly,  apparently,  than  the  girls  between 
six  and  eight  years,  giving  them  the  superiority  which  they  retain  until 
about  the  eleventh  year.  At  the  eleventh  year  the  girls  make  a  rapid 
advance,  pass  beyond  the  boys  and  continue  in  advance  of  them  until 
the  fifteenth  year,  when  the  boys  have  regained  their  superiority.  Six- 
teen seems  to  be  the  point  of  maximum  develdpmcnt  in  the  length  of 


56  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

body  among  Worcester  girls.  The  boys'  development  continues  for 
some  time  thereafter. 

On  examining  the  St.  Louis  curves  we  find  that  the  boys  are 
markedly  taller  than  the  girls  until  nearly  the  twelfth  year,  when  girls 
shoot  past  them  and  are  taller  until  the  seventeenth  year,  by  which 
time  the  girls  have  almost  ceased  growing.  On  comparing  the  facts 
developed  by  these  two  sets  of  curves  we  find  that,  while  in  the  very 
early  years,  in  both  cities,  the  boys  are  generally  of  greater  length  of 
body  than  the  girls,  later  the  girls  become  superior.  The  Worcester 
girls  begin  their  shoot  about  a  year  earlier  than  do  the  St.  Louis  girls 
and  lose  their  superiority  about  a  year  and  a  half  sooner.  The  Wor- 
cester girls  seem  also  to  reach  their  full  development  in  this  direction 
a  year  or  two  the  earlier,  the  Worcester  girls  at  about  sixteen  years 
and  the  St.  Louis  girls  at  about  eighteen  years. 

On  examining  the  curves  of  the  index  of  height  sitting, — the 
length  of  the  body  expressed  in  percents  of  the  stature, — we  find 
them  both  exhibiting  a  decided  minimum.  The  boys'  curve  is  above 
the  girls  from  about  seven  to  eleven  years,  but  thereafter  the  girls 
curve  is  considerably  the  higher.  It  would  seem  from  this  that  up  to 
the  eleventh  year  the  boys'  length  of  body  grows  more  rapidly  in 
comparison  to  the  stature  than  does  the  girls',  but  after  that  age  the 
girls'  body  grows  proportionately  the  more  rapidly.  We  find  that  the 
lowest  point  reached  by  the  girls'  curve  is  at  about  twelve  years  of 
age,  while  the  lowest  point  reached  by  the  boys  is  about  fifteen.  This 
indicates  that,  in  girls  until  the  age  of  twelve  years  and  in  boys  until 
fifteen,  the  lower  limbs  grow  more  rapidly  than  the  body,  but  that 
after  that  period  the  body  grows  more  rapidly.  The  lower  limbs 
throughout  grow  more  rapidly  in  boys  than  in  girls,  and  the  body  in 
girls  than  in  boys. 

The  measurements  of  the  head  will  next  engage  our  attention. 
First  is  the  length  of  head — the  greatest  anterior-posterior  diameter 
through  the  glabella. 

The  curves  for  the  Worcester  and  Toronto  children  show  a  con- 
tinuous but  somewhat  irregular  rise  throughout  the  growth  period. 
The  boys'  measurements  are,  contrary  to  what  we  have  found  in  the 
other  measurements  considered,  greater  at  all  times  than  those  of  the 
girls.  There  is,  however,  a  suggestion  of  the  phenomenon  of  crossing 
in  the  near  approach  of  the  two  curves  at  about  the  ages  of  thirteen  or 
fourteen.     The  girls  seem  to  complete  their  development  at  about  the 


THE  ANTHROPOMETRY  OF  AMERICAN  SCHOOL  CHILDREN.         57 

seventeenth  year,  while  the  boys  continue  to  grow  for  some  time  / 

after. 

The  width  of  head— the  greatest  transverse  diameter — shows 
phenomena  in  no  respect  different  from  those  of  the  length  of  head. 
The  boys  have  the  greater  diameter,  and  the  diameter  continues  to 
grow  for  a  considerable  period  after  that  of  the  girls  has  ceased.  The 
nearest  approach  is  between  the  thirteenth  and  sixteenth  years. 

The  cephalic  index  is  the  expression  of  the  width  of  head  in  terms 
of  the  length.  Its  curve  shows  considerable  irregularities,  but  with  a 
general  tendency  to  fall  from  the  tifth  year  until  the  final  cessation  of 
growth.  The  fall  of  the  curve  indicates  that  the  length  develops 
more  rapidly  than  the  width  of  head. 

The  whole  range  of  both  curves  is  contained  within  three  per  cent., 
the  boys  having  a  slightly  greater  range  than  the  girls. 

These  curves  bring  out  the  fact  that,  as  a  rule,  the  girls  have 
broader  heads  in  comparison  to  the  length  than  do  the  boys.  They 
are  both  mesocephalic  at  all  ages.  This  seems  to  show  that  the  ceph- 
alic index  is  practically  constant  throughout  life,  and,  therefore,  in 
computing  this  index  age  will  not  be  a  factor  to  be  considered. 

The  face  measurement:  the  width  of  face, — greatest  distance 
from  the  external  surface  of  one  zygomatic  bone  to  that  of  the  other, — 
brings  to  view  more  strongly  than  in  the  two  preceding  measurements 
the  phenomenon  of  crossing — this  occurs  between  the  ages  of  twelve 
and  fourteen  years,  except  during  that  time  the  boys'  faces  are  the 
broader.  If  we  compare  the  width  of  face  of  the  girls  and  boys  to 
the  length  of  head,  we  find  that  until  about  the  sixteenth  year  the 
girls'  faces  are  comparatively  broader.  The  continual  rise  of  the  curve 
shows  that  the  width  of  the  face  develops  more  rapidly  than  the  length 
of  head. 

Comparing  the  width  of  face  to  the  width  of  head  shows  that 
here  also  the  width  of  face  of  the  girls  is  comparatively  broader  at  all 
times,  except  perhaps  at  the  sixteenth  year.  This  curve  is  much 
steeper  than  the  curve  of  breadth  of  face  to  length  of  head,  indicating 
that  width  of  face  grows  not  only  more  rapidly  than  the  width  of 
head,  but  more  rapidly  in  proportion  to  the  width  of  head  than  the 
length  of  head.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  the  development  of  the  face 
is  greater  in  the  girls  than  in  the  boys,  in  comparison  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  brain  case. 

It  is,  unfortunately,  impossible  to  compare  directly  the  results 
obtained  in  these  head  and  face  measurements  already  discussed  with 


58  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

those  obtained  in  St.  Louis,  owing  to  the  fact  of  the  St.  Louis  material 
having  been  computed  and  arranged  on  a  somewhat  diflferent  plan, 
but  these  results  do  not  in  the  least  contradict  the  showing  of  the 
Worcester  and  Toronto  material.  There  is,  however,  one  thing  to 
which  attention  should  be  called,  that  is,  to  the  ditference  between  the 
cephalic  index  of  the  two  groups  of  children.  Among  the  Worcester- 
Toronto  children  we  have  found  the  cephalic  index  practically  to  be 
between  78  and  80,  with  an  almost  continuous  downward  tendency  of 
the  curve  from  the  fifth  year  to  maturity.  Among  the  St.  Louis  chil- 
dren the  curves  range  between  78  and  82.  There  is  a  decided  upward 
sweep  from  the  sixth  to  about  the  eleventh  year,  and  then  a  much 
more  emphatic  fall  than  in  the  Worcester  curve.  The  boys  seem  to 
have  the  broader  heads  between  15  and  17,  while  at  other  times  their 
heads  are  decidedly  the  narrower. 

Comparing  the  measurements  of  the  head  and  face  to  the  stature, 
we  find  first  that  in  comparison  to  their  stature  the  length  of  head  of 
boys  is  greater  than  that  of  girls  until  the  fifteenth  year,  when  their  re- 
spective comparative  lengths  change  places,  and  we  find  the  girls'  heads 
becoming  suddenly  the  larger  and  continuing  so  throughout  life. 
These  statements  apply  also  to  the  comparison  of  the  width  of  head 
to  stature,  with  this  one  exception,  that  is,  that  here  again  we  find, 
strangely  enough,  the  phenomenon  of  crossing  which  is  so  character- 
istic of  the  curve  of  the  absolute  measurements.  The  boys'  curve 
passes  below  the  girls'  from  the  tenth  to  about  the  twelfth  year.  The 
boys'  curve  passes  permanently  below  the  girls'  about  half  a  year  earlier 
than  in  the  case  of  the  length  of  head  to  stature.  The  curves  of  width  of 
face  to  stature  show  more  resemblances  to  the  curves  of  width  of  head  to 
stature  than  to  the  curves  of  length  of  head  to  stature.  The  differences 
are  that  the  preliminary  intercrossing  of  the  curves  is  at  about  eleven 
years  of  age,  and  the  final  intercrossing  is  at  fifteen,  somewhat  later 
than  in  either  of  the  preceding  cases. 

In  the  St.  Louis  curves  of  these  same  comparisons  we  find  the 
same  characteristics  brought  out,  though  in  not  so  marked  a  manner. 
In  the  curves  of  the  comparisons  of  width  of  head  and  width  of  face 
to  stature  the  curves  nearly  touch  at  eleven  years  of  age,  but  do  not 
cross.  The  time  of  final  crossing  is,  as  in  Worcester,  fifteen  for  the 
width  of  face  to  stature  and  sixteen  for  the  other  two  curves,  a  year 
and  a  half  later  than  is  the  case  in  Worcester. 


ARCHAEOLOGY. 


69 


ARCH/EOLOGY. 

THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AN  ARTIFICIALLY  FLAKED  FLINT 

SPECIMEN  IN  THE  QUATERNARY  GRAVELS 

OF  SAN  ISIDRO,  SPAIN. 

BY  H.  C.  MERCER. 

THE  hills  of  stratified  gravel  at  the  hamlet  of  San  Isidro,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Mazanares,  opposite  Madrid,  have  for  some 
time  ranked  with  St.  Acheul  and  Abbeville,  Thetford  and 
Hoxne,  as  among  the  sites  noted  in  Europe  for  the  demonstration  by 
discovered  human  remains  of  a  quaternary  maker  of  "  paleoliths" — 
of  a  man  who,  as  there,  the  contemporary  of  fossil  elephants,  chipped, 
but  could  not  polish,  stone. 

Where  the  gravel  quarry  of  Eusebio  Cubero  and  the  Carrena 
Sacerdotal  have  sliced  down  several  hills  near  the  San  Isidro  ceme- 
teries, the  prominent  yellow  exposures,  reaching  up  40  metres  above 
the  present  Mazanares  water  level,  catch  our  eye  as  we  leave  the  To- 
ledo gate.  Here  Signor  de  Prado  speaks  of  artificially  chipped  flints 
having  been  found  about  1850,  since  which  time  numerous  observers 
and  students  have  visited  the  place.  De  Prado  in  his  drawing  divides 
the  deposit,  judged  by  the  appearance  and  kind  of  the  stratitied  bands, 
into  three  layers,  and  after  discussing,  as  others  have  done,  its  manner  of 
deposition,  whether  due  to  glacial  or  non-glacial  agencies,  says  that  it 
rests  on  a  bed  of  tertiary  marl. 

Either  he  or  M.  de  Verneuil,  who  afterwards  visited  the  spot, 
first  realized  that  the  chipped  objects,  which,  however,  neither  say 
they  found  in  place  with  their  own  hands,  resembled  the  Abbeville 
specimens. 

Signor  Villanova,  continually  visiting  San  Isidro  with  his  pupils, 
speaks  of  more  "  implements"  and  fossils,  but  notes  no  personal  dis- 
covery. He  denies  that  De  Prado's  triple  subdivision  is  correct  and 
produces  a  cut  of  his  own.  De  Mortillet  publishes  another,  generally 
resembling  De  Prado's,  but  noting  an  evolution  from  the  bottom  np- 


62  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

wards  in  the  forms  of  implements  discovered.  This  M.  Cartailhac 
reproduces  in  his  recent  work  on  Spain,  in  which  he  speaks  of  obtain- 
ing an  implement,  though  not  with  his  own  hand. 

Without  going  into  details  here  as  to  these  accounts,  the  chief 
ones,  I  believe,  thus  far  published  (with  one  possible  exception  to  be 
noted),  two  facts  are  plain  as  to  the  testimony  of  previous  observers. 

1.  They  agree  that  the  gravels  lying  upon  tertiary  marl  are 
quaternary  in  age.  As  to  the  manner  of  their  deposition,  whether 
enormous  freshets  in  the  Mazanares  laid  them  down,  whether  cross- 
country deluges  from  melting  glaciers  whirled  them  into  place, 
whether  the  more  immediate  down-melting  of  ice-crusts  rolled  them 
where  they  are,  there  seems  to  be  difference  of  opinion,  but  these  dis- 
cussions need  not  concern  us  if  we  learn  from  another  source  that  the 
age  of  the  deposit  is  fixed,  that  they  contain  quaternary  fossils;  and 
here  the  authorities  referred  to  are  all  agreed. 

No  matter  how  the  gravels  were  laid  down,  they  are  of  the  same 
age  as  the  quaternary  bones  they  contain. 

2.  The  next  point  gleaned  from  these  previous  observers  is  that 
they  have  attempted  to  subdivide  the  gravels  into  epochal  layers,  and 
have  disagreed  about  it,  and  therefore  have  differed  with  regard  to  the 
relative  age  and  relative  position  of  the  fossils  and  flints  said  to  have 
been  discovered.  Have  we  three  separate  and  distinct  layers,  or  two, 
or  only  one?  As  we  stand  before  the  splendid  exposure  at  the  Euse- 
bio  Cubero  quarry,  marveling  and  confused  at  the  painted  bands  of 
sand,  pebbles,  clay  and  marl,  how  shall  we  subdivide  the  oft-recurring 
stripes,  now  red  or  green,  now  yellow  or  white,  now  contorted,  now 
level,  that  confront  us? 

If  by  the  test  of  paleontology,  which  has  been  almost  denied  to 
us  at  Trenton,  then  there  ought  to  be  continual  recurrence  of  particular 
fossils  in  particular  layers.  If  by  the  less  sure  test  of  geology  alone, 
then  there  ought  to  be  certain  and  invariable  qualities  in  particular 
layers,  to  distinguish  them  one  from  another;  but,  unfortunately  for  San 
Isidro,  thus  far  authorities  agree  neither  as  to  the  position  of  the  fossils 
nor  as  to  the  position  and  kind  of  the  layers.  So  both  tests  fail,  and  we 
are  left  still  to  ask  whether  any  subdivisions  in  time  at  all  can  be  made 
out  in  the  laying-down  of  the  deposit,  and  whether,  so  far  as  such 
differences  concern  anthropology,  it  ought  not  to  be  considered  a 
homogeneous  mass  throughout.  This  brings  us  to  one  further  point 
noted  in  the  series  of  previous  observations,  which  is  that — 

3.  There  is  no  distinct  statement  in  the  above  accounts  (save 


ARTIFICIALLY   FLAKED   FLINT  OF  SAN  ISIDRO.  63 

the  one  to  be  referred  to)  of  either  fossil  or  "implement"  having 
been  found  by  the  describer  in  place  with  his  own  hands,  and  we  can- 
not help  inferring  that  most,  if  not  all,  the  chipped  specimens  have 
been  obtained,  as  I  obtained  mine  at  Abbeville,  and  as  I  am  informed 
that  nine  out  of  ten  in  France  have  been  obtained,  from  workmen. 

With  these  considerations  forced  upon  us  by  a  study  of  the  place, 
we  are  discouraged.  Everything  is  vague,  contradictory  and  indetinite. 
For  want  of  solid  foundation  the  editice  of  early  human  development 
at  this  interesting  spot  seems  to  be  crumbling  away,  and  we  are  willing 
to  give  up  layers  successive  in  time,  to  give  up  epochs  of  evolution  in 
stone  flaking,  if  we  can  only  find  a  chipped  tlint  or  a  fossil  that  we 
can  be  sure  of  somewhere  in  the  gravels. 

It  was  in  this  state  of  mind  that  I  saw  the  specimen  here  shown, 
on  December  30th,  1892,  protruding  for  about  one  inch  of  its  base 
from  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  Carena  Sacerdotal,  nearest  the 
cemetery.  As  1  could  not  reach  it  from  the  path  that  skirted  the  bluti' 
on  top  of  the  talus,  I  made  a  foothold  in  the  hard  sand,  and,  standing 
in  it,  as  I  held  on  to  a  frozen  seam,  pried  and  gouged  at  it  with  a 
piece  of  lath. 

Only  its  rough  base  showed,  and  I  could  not  recognize  it  as  arti- 
ficial until,  after  nearly  fifteen  minuses  of  scratching,  grasping  and 
pulling,  the  frozen  sand  gave  it  up  and  1  held  it  in  my  hand. 

Mr.  Stewart  Culin,  my  companion  of  the  morning's  expedition, 
and  our  assistant  with  the  camera  were  then  at  the  Eusebio  Cubero 
quarry,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  and  I  ought  to  have  called  them 
both  before  I  pulled  out  the  specimen,  but  I  did  not,  nor  did  I  leave  it 
in  its  matrix,  as  a  workman  was  looking  at  me,  but  carried  it  around 
the  hill,  found  Mr.  Culin,  showed  it  to  him,  returned  with  him  and 
replaced  it,  so  that,  standing  below  on  the  talus  at  about  a  hundred 
feet  away,  he  could  clearly  see  its  general  relation  to  the  stratified 
lines.  Then  I  climbed  the  hill  from  behind  and  measured  its  depth — 
1  metre  80 — below  the  surface. 

Removing  it  again,  we  went  to  luncheon,  to  return  in  an  hour 
with  our  assistant  Igiesias  and  photograph  it  several  times,  and  on  the 
following  day,  as  the  matrix  was  still  intact,  I  again  returned  and 
made  the  plaster  cast  of  the  cavity,  now  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania's museum. 

In  my  subsequent  study  of  the  spot,  Signor  Villanova  being  ill , 
I  was  accompanied  by  Signor  Quiroga,  curator  of  the  zoological 
department  of  the  Natural  History  Museum  in  Madrid,  who  very 


64  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

kindly  helped  me  measure  the  various  cuts,  and  remove  from  the  face 
of  one  of  them  what  I  had  suspected  was  a  fragment  of  brick,  but 
which  turned  out  to  be  a  piece  of  porphyry. 

Neither  he  nor  I,  though  I  had  examined  the  gravel  cuts  of  Tren- 
ton, Abbeville,  St.  Acheul  and  Chelles,  could  lay  claim  to  trained 
geological  discrimination,  so  that,  aware  of  the  sincere  doubts  that 
have  arisen  and  the  need  of  extreme  accuracy,  1  asked  myself  the 
following  questions: 

1.  Was  the  gravel  stratified?  Yes.  Several  clearly  defined 
lines  or  stripes  of  coarse  pebbles  ran  along  the  cut's  face  at  varying 
depths,  some  nearer  the  surface  than  the  specimen.  Because  these 
could  be  traced  continuously,  and  sometimes  around  the  corners  of  the 
perpendicular  exposure;  because  the  specimen  was  only  1.80  metres 
down,  and  because  the  hill-top,  save  for  a  few  ancient  rubbish  heaps, 
was  level  and  unbroken  to  the  extreme  brink,  it  followed  that  the  ob- 
ject was  neither  in  mixed  talus  nor  in  one  of  those  down-faulted  areas 
such  as  I  saw  over  a  "  puit"  at  Abbeville,  where  the  whole  bank  had 
moved  downward,  but  preserved  its  stratification. 

2.  Had  the  specimen  been  artificially  intruded  from  above.? 
Potsherds  and  charcoal,  we  soon  found,  strewed  the  surface  of  the  hill- 
top, penetrating  to  the  depth  of  at  least  a  foot  through  the  surface 
loam.  A  geologically  modern  people  had  therefore  dwelt  there.  Had 
they,  by  digging  holes  or  otherwise,  intruded  their  remains  into  the 
gravel  ? 

Yes,  they  had,  and  we  were  at  first  startled  to  find,  at  a  distance 
of  45  metres  to  the  north  of  the  flint,  some  bits  of  bone  and  potsherds 
bedded  in  the  gravel  fully  as  deep  as,  if  not  deeper  than,  our  speci- 
men. For  a  long  time  we  worked  at  the  spot,  but  when  the  now 
thawed  sand  on  both  sides  was  pared  clean  with  shovels,  the  V-shaped 
outline  of  a  pit  extending  from  the  surface  down,  full  of  blackened 
earth,  loam,  charcoal  and  the  objects  above  noted,  about  four  feet  in 
diameter  and  seven  feet  deep,  was  plain.  No  lingering  doubt  remained 
in  our  minds  as  we  walked  away  100  yards  and  saw  the  black  notch 
painted  clear  against  the  reddish  brown,  and  as,  returning  again,  we 
saw  clearly  the  undisturbed  sand  and  one  of  the  pebble  lines  end  on 
one  side  of  the  intrusion  and  begin  again  on  the  other. 

When  Manuel  Cubero,  son  of  the  lower-quarry  owner,  took  us 
to  his  house  and  showed  us  the  fragments  of  a  pot,  which  he  said  he 
had  found  at  a  similar  depth  in  another  cut  since  dug  away,  we  were 
not  surprised.    No  better  chance,  we  thought,  could  have  offered  to 


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Specimen  found  Dec.  31, 1892,  at  the  Carrena  Sacerdotai,, 

San  Isidro,  Madrid. 


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The  Gravei.  Exposure  at  the  Carrena  Sacerdotal. 

(The  boy  points  to  the  specimen  protruding  from  the  gravel  as  found  Dec.  31,  1892.) 


ARTIFICIALLY   FLAKED   FLINT   OF   SAN   ISIDRO.  65 

enable  us  to  study  artificial  intrusion,  and  decide  whether  or  not  the 
flint  object  had  found  its  way  down  by  a  similar  means. 

When,  however,  we  returned  to  the  site  of  the  specimen,  we  found 
that  it  was  on  a  level  with  the  longest  of  the  pebble  stripes,  but  that 
the  latter  faded  away  to  the  right  of  it  about  five  feet  before  reaching 
it;  that  another  similar  pebble  line  began  again  somewhat  higher  and 
about  six  feet  to  the  left,  running  around  the  bluff,  and  that  a  third 
more  confused  series  of  coarse  lines  began  still  higher  and  farther  to 
the  right.  Not  one  of  these  stripes,  therefore,  ran  directly  over  the 
specimen;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  none  ended  abruptly.  Between 
the  specimen  and  the  surface  there  was  about  1.3o  metres  of  homo- 
geneous red  sand.  Where  I  had  pared  this  clean  at  the  intrusive  notch, 
1  had  found  no  fine  waved  lines  in  it.  I  ought  to  have  pared  it  again 
over  the  specimen,  but  I  did  not,  contenting  myself  with  a  close 
inspection  from  the  top  of  a  ladder. 

If  a  hole  had  been  dug  from  above,  at  the  pottery  epoch,  the 
conditions  of  the  other  intrusion,  1  believed,  would  have  been  to  some 
extent  repeated;  some  of  the  black  loam,  if  nothing  else,  would  have 
shown  in  the  sand;  but  it  did  not. 

As  to  the  other  doubts: 

3.  Did  the  specimen  slide  down  and  become  reset  in  a  pasty 
scum  on  the  face  of  the  cut.?  No.  While  I  admit  that  an  arrow- 
head or  small  chip  might  keep  glued  to  furrows  in  the  perpendicular 
wall,  as  it  trickled  down,  to  halt  occasionally  at  the  command  of  frost 
or  heat,  this  object  was  too  heavy.     It  must  have  tumbled. 

4.  Had  the  specimen  slipped  into  the  cavity  of  an  uprooted  tree? 
Hardly.  A  tree  large  enough  to  let  it  down  1.80  metres,  by  up-root- 
ing, would  have  had  to  grow,  I  believe,  after  the  forming  of  some  of 
the  surface  loam.  If  it  had,  then  some  of  the  loam  would  have  fallen 
into  the  hole  with  the  specimen.  But,  as  noted  before,  there  was  no 
loam  or  trace  of  the  surface  layer  to  be  seen. 

5.  Had  it  come  down  by  an  earthquake  fissure,  a  tap-root  hole, 
or  an  animal  burrow?  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  former,  though  I 
have  never  seen  one,  would  have  faulted  the  pebble  lines  noted,  and 
all  these  apertures,  if  of  the  pottery  period,  would  have  let  down 
loam.  But  there  was,  as  remarked  before,  no  loam-darkened  hole 
outline  on  the  face  of  the  cut,  and  no  loam  particles  stick  to  the  sand- 
capped  cast  of  the  matrix,  now  in  my  possession,  to  indicate  any  bur- 
row or  fissure  running  in  diagonally  from  behind.  So  the  possibility 
of  these  and  all  other  apertures,  natural  or  artificial,  comes  down  here 


66  THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

to  one  test  at  last — the  test  of  loam.  As  there  was  no  loam,  we 
reasonably  thnik  there  was  no  aperture  during  the  age  of  loam.  But 
what  if  there  were  apertures  when  the  gravel  was  homogeneous  to  the 
top;  when  nature  had  as  yet  laid  no  covering  over  the  bleak  strand.? 
If  there  were  apertures  then,  who  shall  now  detect  their  trace,  though 
even  as  to  these  "  ifs"  we  would  not  be  left  in  the  dark,  had  we  found 
its  lines  of  stratification  run  directly  over  the  specimen. 

We  will  therefore  keep  the  "  ifs,"  for  so  convinced  am  I  of  the 
value  of  clean-cut  lines  of  stratification  that  I  do  not  complain  if  this 
specimen  is  ruled  out,  or  kept  waiting  for  corroboration,  because  I  did 
not  find  them  clean,  clear  and  unmistakable,  streaking  the  bank  above 
the  resting-place. 

So  much  for  this  discovery.  Now  one  word  as  to  recent  cor- 
roboration. 

M.  L,  Siret,  of  the  Ecole  d'Anthropologie,  Paris,  says  briefly  in 
U Anthropologie  for  August,  1892,  p,  403: 

"  San  Isidro  is  known;  I  have  finished  studying  the  bed,  making 
cuts,  and  '  retirant  de  mes  mains,'  a  certain  number  of  flints  and 
quartzites  in  place.  I  cannot  affirm  that  but  one  layer  contains 
chipped  objects,  but  it  is  very  rich:  I  speak  of  the  three  upper  metres, 
where  Chellean,  Mousterian  and  even  Solutrean  forms  are  together." 

When  1  first  heard  of  this,  after  my  return  to  America,  I  hoped 
to  have  been  able  to  compare  notes  with  M,  Siret,  but  the  president  of 
the  Ecole  d'Anthropologie  informs  me  in  a  recent  letter  that  he  has 
heard  of  no  further  or  more  definite  publication  by  him  upon  the 
subject. 

Finally,  as  to  the  object  itself,  granting  it  to  have  been  found  in 
place:  Is  it  a  finished  implement,  showing  the  best  work  its  maker 
could  or  would  do,  or  is  it  an  unfinished  implement,  whose  m^ker 
might  have  chipped  out  under  favorable  circumstances  a  better  thing.? 

To  answer  questions  of  this  sort,  we  set  to  work  in  America  to 
study  the  stone-chipping  processes  of  the  modern  Indian,  whose  work- 
shops and  quarries  had  so  long  lain  unnoticed  under  our  eyes.  And 
it  soon  became  apparent  that  we  could  no  longer  gather  specimens  of 
this  sort  upon  the  surface  here  and  call  them  "  paleoliths,"  for  we 
found  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  geologically  modern  Indian  habitually 
and  incessantly  made  them. 

When  next  we  found  that  he  littered  the  refuse  of  his  blade- 
material  quarries,  we  knew  why  he  made  them.  They  were  "  wast- 
ers," abandoned  because  unfit  for  thinning  down  into  certain  kinds  of 
finer  blades  common  at  the  village  sites. 


ARTIFICIALLY   FLAKED  FLINT  OF  SAN  ISIDRO.  67 

Still  keeping  to  our  village  sites  and  quarries,  and  marveling  at 
the  number  of  these  once  mysterious  objects  that  turned  up  every- 
where, we  felt  disposed  to  call  them  all — if  of  American  Indian  pedi- 
gree— "rejects,"  until  a  careful  study  of  certain  new  sites,  and  the 
valuable  discovery,  by  Mr.  Ernest  Volk,  of  two  well-arranged  caches 
of  them,  buried  in  the  ground  in  layers,  and  therefore  not  discarded, 
made  us  realize  that  certain  of  the  rough-looking  ones  were  not 
*'  rejects"  after  all. 

But  if  we  gave  up  the  right  always  to  say  "  reject "  to  these  Indian 
stones,  we  held  on  to  the  right  to  say  "  unfinished  implement,"  and, 
still  judging  from  them  and  the  class  of  work  they  represented,  were 
led  for  a  time  to  suspect  that  a  chipped  implement,  to  be  finished, 
needs  to  be  specialized. 

When,  however,  we  realized  that  Professor  Joseph  Leidy  had 
seen  Ute  Indians  knocking  disc-like  flakes  from  pebbles  at  a  single 
blow,  to  be  used  as  "teshoas,"  or  hide-scrapers,  and  found  similar 
discs  with  the  pebbles  from  which  they  had  been  knocked  at  many 
village  sites  on  the  Delaware  and  Susquehanna,  and  again  saw  others 
somewhat  modified  as  if  for  hafting,  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, and  when  we  compared  these  American  teshoas  with  Easter 
Island  knives,  Admiralty  Island  and  Australian  gum-hafted  blades, 
that  were  only  chips  not  specialized  at  all,  yet  finished  implements, 
we  had  to  give  up  the  test. 

Still  it  was  a  good  deal  to  have  the  pedigree  of  so  many  of  these 
rude  Indian-made  objects,  and  we  are  still  casting  about  to  see  what 
they  may  have  to  tell  us  of  the  general  principles  which  underlie  the 
art  of  chipping  stone  in  general  throughout  the  past  of  all  man- 
kind. 

Meanwhile  new  facts  come  to  light.  We  now  learn  that  there 
are  "  turtlebacks  "  and  "  turtlebacks  " — turtlebacks  of  the  quarry  and 
turtlebacks  made  at  the  riverside  of  material  there  at  hand.  And 
more  digging  tells  us  that  to  find  a  "  turtleback  "  does  not  necessarily 
infer  the  status  of  culture  of  a  people  who  had  discovered  and  worked 
quarries,  for  it  seems  that  we  have  reason  to  suspect  from  certain  evi- 
dence that  the  Indian  chipped  "  turtlebacks  "  on  the  Delaware  before 
he  made  the  broad,  thin  blades.  Yet  it  was  for  the  sake  of  these  we 
supposed  that  the  quarry  work  had  been  done. 

If,  then,  as  to  the  geologically  modern  North  American  Indian, 
we  may  not  yet  vouchsafe  to  fully  solve  the  problem  of  these  rude 
stones,  how  shall  we  otTer  to  characterize  as  finished  or  unfinished 


68  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

this  other,  which,  if  no  mistake  has  been  made,  belongs  to  a  remote 
time  upon  another  continent? 

We  are  but  on  the  threshold  of  a  large  subject.  Excavation  is 
what  we  need,  and  identification  of  specimens  with  fixed  geological 
horizons.     Evidently  we  must  make  haste  slowly. 


ABORIGINAL    AMERICAN    MECHANICS: 
A  Study  m  the  History  of  Technography . 

BY  OTIS  T.  MASON. 

A  MECHANIC  is  one  who  is  skilled  in  the  use  of  tools,  who  works 
habitually  in  some  kind  of  material  to  shape  it,  who  makes 
thereof  something  useful.  He  is,  therefore,  an  artisan  or  arti- 
ficer. He  practices  always  some  kind  of  elaborative  industry,  by  which 
materials  are  changed  in  form  to  adapt  them  to  the  use  of  others. 
Finally,  he  is  a  utilitarian.  His  works  are  designed  to  supply  some  need. 
As  distinguished  from  an  artist,  who  works  in  order  to  give  pleasure,  this 
man  toils  to  feed  the  hungry,  to  clothe  the  naked,  to  house  the  shelter- 
less, to  enable  all  mankind  to  do  their  work,  whatever  it  may  be. 
The  modern  mechanic  is  absolute  master  of  the  earth.  There  is  little 
that  he  cannot  lift,  remove,  dissolve,  penetrate,  transform.  A  cata- 
ogue  of  his  tools  and  appliances  would  define  all  the  trades  and 
industries  of  the  world.  All  the  material  resources  of  the  earth,  min- 
eral, vegetal,  animal,  are  his.  The  winds,  the  waters,  the  fire,  the 
sunlight,  the  lightning  are  his  servants.  He  understands  the  nature 
and  transformations  of  forces,  the  constitution  and  molecular  activi- 
ties of  matter,  the  nature  of  living  beings.  He  has  devised  means  of 
multiplying  himself,  of  converting  space  and  time  and  weight,  one 
into  the  other.  And  now  he  dreams  of  new  applications  of  force  and 
combines  with  his  fellows  to  construct  and  govern  society.  The  most 
favored  nations  have  not  always  been  so  blest  but  the  mechanic,  like 
every  other  product  of  nature  or  of  culture  is  the  result  of  many  evo- 
lutions. 

The  first  of  them  had  a  poorly  furnished  workshop.  "His 
body,"  as  Emerson  says,  "  was  a  whole  chest  of  tools."  But  he  had 
not  the  knack  of  using  them.  He  was  naked  and  houseless.  His 
needs,  out  of  which  all  arts  in  all  ages  spring,  were  few.  His  mission 
was  to  subdue  the  earth  and  to  redeem  it.  Compared  with  his  prog- 
eny of  our  day,  he  would  seem  an  object  of  pity.  But  his  brain 
was  superabundant.  His  soul  was  full  of  capacities.  He  was  the 
father  of  us  all. 

69 


70  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

In  studying  the  history  of  technography,  the  first  question  that 
arises  relates  to  the  terrestrial  resources  and  conditions  wherein  the 
arts  of  man  are  to  be  developed.  The  globe  is  not  homogeneous  for 
this  purpose.  There  are  regions  in  which  the  only  stimulus  to  labor 
is  hunger,  and  in  some  of  them  the  banana,  the  bread-fruit  or  the 
date  tree  holds  out  its  bountiful  hand  and  begs  men  to  partake  with- 
out an  effort.  Other  regions  of  this  class  are  more  poorly  provided 
with  food  products,  and  the  search  is  there  more  stimulating. 

In  a  second  class  of  regions  the  stimuli  are  hunger  and  danger. 
Besides  the  quest  for  food  there  are  lurking  beasts  to  avoid,  to  kill;  or, 
in  later  times,  there  are  enemies  on  the  war-path.  This  class  of 
regions  would  stimulate  to  food-quest  and  defense. 

A  third  class  of  regions  present  a  variable  climate;  cold  and  heat, 
wet  and  dry  seasons  create  new  pains,  drive  to  new  activities,  and  the 
quest  becomes  one  for  food,  defense,  clothing  and  shelter. 

A  fourth  class  of  regions  add  to  the  resources  and  characteristics 
just  mentioned  this  one,  that  the  people  can  live  in  one  part  of  it  in 
one  season,  say  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  but  they  must  move  to  another 
part  of  it  in  another  season.  Here  the  activity  of  migration  is  added 
to  the  others,  and  if  this  be  partly  by  land  and  partly  by  water,  the 
foundations  are  laid  for  the  modern  arts  of  transportation  and  con- 
veyance. 

A  fifth  class  of  regions  happily  is  furnished  by  Nature  with  some 
plant  or  animal  which  yields  readily  to  cultivation.  It  is  easier  and 
more  profitable  to  plant  the  crop  or  to  rear  and  tend  the  herd  of  these 
than  it  is  to  reap  the  wild  seed  or  chase  the  wild  game.  Herein  is  a 
stimulus  to  agriculture  and  the  domestication  of  animals.  How 
favored  such  regions  were  in  the  old,  old  days  none  will  ever  know, 
for  the  record  is  lost  in  prehistoric  times. 

The  present  study  has  reference  to  the  mechanics  of  the  two  Am- 
ericas before  the  discovery  by  Columbus.  We  shall  inquire  into  the 
materials  upon  which  they  worked,  the  tools  and  mechanical  appli- 
ances which  they  invented  and  used,  the  products  of  their  industries 
so  far  as  they  have  been  gathered  from  the  graves  of  the  past  and 
taken  from  the  hands  of  the  present  Indians.  In  conclusion,  a  few 
words  may  be  said  concerning  the  grade  of  culture  indicated  by  these 
works  and  the  relationship  which  may  be  found  between  trades,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  language,  nationality  and  environment,  on  the 
other.  The  tool  of  the  artisan  is  fitted  to  the  hand;  but  to  the  scru- 
tinizing glance  of  the  student  it  is  just  as  nicely  fitted  to  its  environ- 


ABORIGINAL  AMERICAN  MECHANICS.  71 

ment,  to  the  work  which  it  has  to  perform,  to  the  grade  of  industrial 
education  which  the  owner  has  reached,  to  the  genius  of  his  people, 
and  even  to  their  language  and  mythology.  The  director  of  a  large 
museum,  on  examining  an  implement  new  to  him,  is  quite  as  likely 
to  fix  his  attention  upon  the  region,  or  the  work  to  be  done,  or  the 
standing  of  the  owner,  as  upon  his  blood  or  nationality.  The  conti- 
nent of  America  was  largely  the  director  of  the  arts  of  the  aborigines. 

To  study  the  mechanics  of  America,  one  may  classify  them,  by 
the  material  in  which  they  operated,  as  workers  in  stone,  clay,  wood, 
fiber  and  so  forth.  Or  we  may  class  them  by  the  things  they  made, 
as  bowyers,  fletchers,  boat-builders,  potters,  basket-makers,  skin- 
dressers,  bread -makers,  and  the  like. 

A  third  plan  is  to  disregard  the  workman  to  a  certain  extent  and 
give  attention  to  the  apparatus  and  the  methods  employed  in  given 
operations,  whatever  may  be  the  material  or  the  product.  For  the 
present  study  this  method  may  be  chiefly  employed. 

The  aboriginal  American  mechanics  had  to  do  with  tools,  with 
mechanical  powers,  with  metric  apparatus,  with  engineering,  with 
natural  forces,  and,  to  a  limited  extent,  with  machinery.  The  exam- 
ination of  these  will  be  instructive  in  the  history  of  the  evolution  of 
industry,  for,  while  the  savages  of  this  continent  have  contributed 
very  little  to  the  mechanics  of  the  world,  their  tools  and  methods  and 
results  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  those  of  our  own  ancestors  and  to 
other  now  cultured  peoples  when  they  were  in  this  part  of  their  indus- 
trial curriculum.  The  tools  of  the  people  we  are  now  considering 
belonged  to  the  following  classes: 

1.  Tools  for  cutting,  with  some  sort  of  edge,  or,  as  we  say, 
edged  tools. 

2.  Tools  for  abrading  and  smoothing  the  surfaces  of  substances, 
like  our  planes,  rasps  and  sandpaper. 

3.  Tools  for  striking,  that  is,  pounding  for  the  sake  of  pound- 
ing, or  for  crushing  and  fracturing  violently. 

4.  Perforating  tools. 

5.  Devices  for  grasping  and  holding  firmly. 

The  action  of  the  hand  or  hands  in  using  these  various  classes  of 
tools  decides  their  form  and  mode  of  action.  For  instance,  the  cutting 
or  edged  tool,  working  by  steady  pressure,  becomes  a  knife  or  a  plane; 
working  by  a  blow,  becomes  a  chisel,  or  ax,  or  adze;  and,  held  and 
operated  on  edge  for  the  purpose  of  bisecting  something,  is  a  saw; 
though,  in  the  latter  case,  the  operation  is  rather  through  an  abrasion. 


72  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  abrading  and  smoothing  tools,  according  to  the  method  of 
holding  and  working,  when  they  cut  away  material  by  the  edge  or 
point,  are  scrapers  and  gravers;  when  they  abrade  over  their  entire 
surface  they  act  as  rasps  or  sandpapers;  when  they  are  employed  to 
put  an  edge  or  point  upon  tools,  they  replace  our  whetstones  or  grind- 
stones, if  they  act  by  friction.  Finally,  these  rubbing  tools  may  act 
to  smooth  and  crease  the  surface  of  the  material,  without  taking  away 
any  of  the  substance  at  all. 

The  class  of  striking,  fracturing,  crushing  implements,  when  act- 
ing by  a  sudden  movement  and  producing  a  shock,  are  hammers  or 
mauls,  but,  used  in  a  mortar  on  paint,  or  tobacco,  or  foodstuffs,  they 
become  pestles.  But  the  .latter  class,  when  they  are  moved  horizon- 
tally, and  have  broader  surfaces,  are  termed  mills,  metates,  muUers. 
Finally,  in  this  fracturing  class,  working  by  pressure,  is  a  wonderful 
art,  now  almost  extinct  except  among  the  glaziers  and  flint-knappers, 
and  that  is  the  breaking  of  flinty  stones  by  pressure.  The  aboriginal 
flint-workers  throughout  the  world  carried  this  craft  to  its  highest 
perfection. 

The  class  of  tools  for  making  holes  by  a  blow,  such  as  punches 
struck  with  a  hammer,  are  not  common  among  savages,  but  sharp 
sticks  weighted  with  stones,  and  poles  shod  with  spuds  of  ivory,  are 
common.  Awls,  needles  and  prickers,  pushed  by  the  hand;  gimlets, 
or  something  answering  thereto,  worked  by  a  reciprocating  motion; 
and  drills,  kept  in  motion  by  strings,  were  all  developed  in 
savagery. 

For  such  devices  as  pincers  and  vises  the  primitive  tribes  have 
their  substitutes.  The  handy  tools  of  our  day  do  not  change  the 
mode  of  action,  they  do  not  add  many  new  ideas  out  and  out.  They 
substitute  better  material,  work  more  rapidly  and  introduce  co-opera- 
tion in  their  action.  They  are  more  often  now  driven  by  power 
rather  than  by  hand.  But  the  American  mechanic  before  the  days  of 
Columbus  had  a  respectable  tool-chest,  as  his  works  will  testify. 

The  knives,  shears,  planes,  axes,  adzes,  chisels,  gouges  and  saws 
of  the  aborigines  of  the  Western  continent  were  of  stone  for  the  most 
part.  The  use  of  teeth,  shell  and  copper  for  such  purposes  was  lim- 
ited. Bronze  may  have  sparingly  entered  into  the  list  of  cutting 
tools  among  the  advanced  nations.  For  cutting,  the  Americans  used 
both  chipped  and  polished  implements,  and  had  a  great  variety  of 
forms  for  working  in  hides  or  wood,  or  in  ivory,  antler,  horn,  slate 
and  such  hard  materials.     These  tools  were  best  developed  in  the 


ABORIGINAL   AMERICAN  MECHANICS.  7} 

places  where  the  best  material  abounded,  such  as  British  Columbia 
or  the  West  Indies. 

The  second  class  of  tools  in  America  were  also  largely  of  stone. 
Scrapers,  gravers,  rasps,  whetstones  and  grindstones  are  to  be  seen  in 
abundance  in  all  collections.  The  modern  tribes,  however,  in  addition 
to  all  these,  use  the  leaves  of  grasses  containing  silex,  skins  of  fishes, 
edges  of  shells,  the  incisor  teeth  of  the  beaver  and  other  rodents,  and 
many  of  these  do  excellent  execution. 

For  polishing  the  surfaces  of  pottery  and  other  work  the  finest 
stones  were  used.  Oils  and  paints  and  varnishes,  and  even  lacquers, 
were  employed  to  give  to  wood-work  a  finished  appearance. 

The  American  hammer  for  driving  wedges  and  tent-pins,  for  crush- 
ing bones,  softening  rawhide,  breaking  stone  and  ore,  varied  in  size 
according  to  use,  but  did  not  differ  from  those  in  use  on  the  same 
spot  in  our  day  except  that  the  handle  never  passed  through  the  poll. 
It  always  grasped  it. 

The  hammer-stone,  a  flat  disc  of  hard  material,  for  hammering 
stone,  was  also  universal.  After  Mr.  McGuire's  successful  experi- 
ments with  this  tool  and  his  writings  on  the  subject  it  is  only  neces- 
sary for  me  to  refer  you  to  his  publications. 

Mortars  for  paint,  tobacco  and  food,  and  metates  for  food  and 
clay  and  chocolate,  are  to  be  found  in  all  latitudes.  From  a  hole  in 
a  natural  bowlder,  in  which  an  elongated  pebble  was  worked,  to  the 
intricate  California  acorn-grinding  apparatus,  with  its  exquisite  bask- 
etry hopper,  or  to  a  Mexican  metate,  tastefully  carved,  there  are  sev- 
eral grades  of  technical  education,  filled  by  the  triturating  and  rubbing 
apparatus  of  other  tribes.  There  were  no  mills  in  America  four  hun- 
dred years  ago,  turned  either  by  man  or  beast.  The  grinding  was 
done  with  metates  and  in  mortars. 

For  making  holes,  the  implement  of  chief  importance  is  universal, 
namely,  a  sharpened  bone,  used  as  a  marling-spike  is  employed  by 
sailors.  The  skin-sewer  and  the  basket-maker  could  not  do  without 
it,  and  hundreds  of  examples  are  found  in  their  graves.  Men,  for 
making  holes,  used  the  ice-pick  of  ivory,  gimlets  of  bone  and  flint, 
but  the  drill  was  also  universal.  It  was  found  in  three  forms:  the 
pump-drill,  the  strap-drill,  the  bow-drill.  The  shaft  was  weighted  as 
in  a  spindle,  the  point  was  of  stone,  or  wood,  or  copper,  for  various 
uses,  and  sand  was  employed  by  the  stone-cutter  to  enforce  his  drill. 

For  grasping  hot  stones,  the  American  mechanics  used  tongs  of 
wood,  and  in  lieu  of  vises  and  strong  pincers  they  resorted  to  the 


74  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

shrinking  of  vegetable  fiber  and  of  rawhide.  They  made  a  kind  of 
clamp  of  two  stout  bits  of  wood,  wrapped  the  two  ends  with  spruce- 
root  or  rawhide,  wet,  and  allowed  it  to  dry.  In  this  way  the  parts  of 
a  box  could  be  held  until  they  were  sewed.  , 

For  nails  and  screws,  the  Western  mechanics  employed  "tree- 
nails "  and  ail  sorts  of  rope  and  twine  and  sinew  cord  and  rawhide 
string.  They  also  made  excellent  glues  and  cements,  from  both  veg- 
etal and  animal  substances.  For  tightening  a  joint,  they  knew  how 
to  take  advantage  in  the  twisting  of  a  rope.  The  power  that  can  be 
put  into  a  half-inch  sinew-rope,  by  means  of  a  trusty  lever,  is  very 
great.  The  Eskimo  bow  is  thus  tightened.  These  mechanics  were 
well  versed  in  the  use  of  fire  as  a  tool,  excavating  and  bending  wood 
thereby,  and,  among  some  tribes,  the  bow  was  rendered  more  elastic 
in  this  manner. 

The  ingenuity  of  the  American  mechanic  in  hafting  his  tools  and 
bringing  them  to  their  work  cannot  be  overlooked.  In  this  study  the 
arch^ologist  must  learn  of  the  ethnologist.  The  study  of  hafting 
must  take  into  consideration  the  grip  and  the  attachment.  The  grip 
of  the  implement  may  be  a  part  of  the  object  itself,  or  it  may  be  a 
separate  piece  fastened  on.  In  the  Eskimo  scrapers,  women's  knives, 
men's  knives,  throwing-sticks  and  harpoons,  the  greatest  care  was 
taken  to  have  the  grip  so  fit  the  hand  and  fingers  that  the  greatest 
force  and  dexterity  could  be  used  in  operating  them.  For  attaching 
the  handle  to  its  object  the  following  devices  were  employed: 

1.  A  straight  handle  to  which  the  working  piece  was  seized.  Ex- 
ample— Some  kinds  of  arrows. 

2.  Same  as  No.  1 ,  only  the  working  piece  was  laid  alongside  a 
shoulder,  or  in  a  groove  or  mortise.  Example — Harpoons,  spears, 
arrows,  chisels. 

3.  The  grip  has  a  longitudinal  groove  cut  out  and  the  working 
part  driven  in.     Example — Women's  knives. 

4.  The  handle  cut  from  a  tree,  so  as  to  preserve  a  part  of  the 
trunk  for  attaching  the  working  part.     Example — Ice-picks,  adzes. 

5.  Grooved  working  parts,  so  that  the  handle  could  be  bent 
around  or  in  some  way  lashed  thereto  by  a  rawhide.  Example — 
Axes,  mauls. 

6.  Perforated  handles.     Example— Celts  (Carib). 

7.  Perforated  working  parts.     Example — Arrow-straighteners. 
The  MECHANICAL  powers,  in  theorder  of  their  simplicity,  are  the 

inclined  plane,  the  -wed^e,  lever,  the  roller,  the  pulley,  the  wheel  and 


ABORIGINAL   AMERICAN   MECHANICS.  75 

axle,  and  the  screu\  These  devices  for  converting  time  and  weight 
and  velocity  into  momentum,  and  for  changing  the  direction  and  char- 
acter of  momentum,  are  at  the  foundation  of  the  modern  intricate 
machinery.  But  the  simplest  forms  of  all  these  useful  things  were 
elaborated  by  primitive  mechanics  with  what  little  suggestion  they 
could  get  from  the  animal  world. 

The  inclined  plane,  both  for  rolling  and  sliding  friction,  as  wei 
as  for  convenience  in  walking,  is  too  easy  to  dwell  upon.  The  Eskimo 
sledge  men,  the  hunter  dragging  his  game,  the  fishermen  on  a  sloping 
beach  landing  a  great  sea  monster  or  a  canoe,  the  Indians  of  the  can- 
ons making  a  trail,  the  Caribs  launching  a  pirogue,  the  mound-build- 
ers or  the  Mexicans  ascending  a  great  ceremonial  earthwork,  were 
equally  skilled  in  selecting  a  gentle  slope  or  in  making  one.  The 
natives  of  British  Columbia  make  skids  of  stout  saplings,  and  on  them 
roll  up  the  logs  that  are  to  form  the  plate  pieces  of  their  communal 
dwellings,  holding  them  in  position  by  means  of  shore  poles.  The 
great  stone  buildings  of  Mexico,  Central  America  and  Peru  were  the 
work  of  men's  hands,  with  no  aid  from  animals  or  natural  powers. 
The  invariable  association  of  ail  such  structures  with  sloping  earth- 
works and  pyramids  points  to  the  chief  mechanical  power  known  to 
the  builders.  An  additional  value  is  given  to  the  inclined  plane  in 
that  it  allows  the  co-operation  of  as  many  individuals  as  are  necessary, 
and  it  also  lends  itself  to  co-operation  with  the  other  powers. 

The  wedge  was  in  universal  use  among  the  American  native 
mechanics: 

1.  To  tighten  the  working  part  of  an  implement  in  its  hafting 
and  seizing. 

2.  To  split  long  puncheons  of  cedar  logs,  to  be  used  in  the  roofs 
and  floors  of  houses. 

3.  In  riving  from  standing  trees  annual  layers  between  two 
scarfs  (kerfs)  as  an  aid  in  felling  the  tree. 

4.  In  spreading  the  sides  of  a  canoe  for  inserting  the  thwarts. 

5.  For  lifting  heavy  weights  on  cob  work.  There  is  authority 
for  this  in  the  history  of  the  Superior  copper  mines. 

Finally,  for  any  splitting  or  compressing  that  might  need  to  be 

done. 

The  wedges  were  always  made  of  the  hardest  material  known  \\\ 
any  region.  Wood,  ivory,  elkhorn,  bone,  and  even  hammered  cop- 
per did  service. 

Wedges  were  driven  home  with  hand  hammers  and  mauls.    The 


76         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

former  were  of  one  piece,  in  shape  of  a  pestle  or  a  slab,  but  more 
nicely  finished,  and  were  for  one  or  two  hands;  the  latter  were 
wrought  out  of  the  hardest  material,  hafted  with  great  ingenuity,  and 
cut  frequently  to  imitate  the  heads  of  animals. 

The  principle  of  the  wedge  entered  into  that  of  professional  tools, 
such  as  needles,  prickers,  and  knives  for  splitting. 

The  lever  is  somewhat  harder  to  trace  in  savage  America.  The 
Eskimo,  in  tightening  and  relaxing  their  sinew-backed  bow,  use  a  lever 
of  ivory,  which  makes  half  a  turn,  and  is  then  slidden  its  whole 
length  between  the  strands  of  the  cable  to  repeat  the  process.  For 
lifting  or  prying  heavy  weights,  aboriginal  man,  for  some  reason, 
prefers  a  dead  lift.  Any  one  accustomed  to  handling  common  men 
has  many  a  time  been  astounded  at  the  pains  they  will  give  them- 
selves before  they  are  willing  to  think  and  plan.  However,  for  twist- 
ing the  cable  in  a  fox  trap,  for  taking  the  slack  in  a  swinging  bridge, 
and  for  moving  heavy  stones  and  weights,  the  lever  is  always  at 
hand.  Mr.  Holmes  has  not  hesitated  to  put  a  crowbar  in  the  hands 
of  one  of  his  quarrymen. 

The  roller  1  have  found  certainly  in  two  areas.  The  Eskimos, 
in  landing  a  heavily  laden  skin-boat,  according  to  Elliott,  lay  down  on 
the  beach,  in  a  row,  inflated  sealskins,  used  as  floats  with  their  har- 
poons. Upon  these  the  craft  is  beached  without  the  vexation  of  un- 
loading her,  A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that  in  this  apparatus 
the  pneumatic  tire  is  foreshadowed. 

The  other  example  of  the  roller  is  the  use  made  of  it  on  the 
North  Pacific  coast  in  moving  the  great  logs  to  be  used  in  construct- 
ing the  communal  houses. 

The  pulley  in  its  simplest  form  is  described  as  an  invention  of 
tepee-dwelling  Indians  of  the  plains.  When  the  women  had  set  up 
the  three  chief  poles  of  the  tent,  the  skin  cover  was  hauled  up  by  a 
line  fastened  to  the  top  margin,  passed  over  the  fork  of  the  poles 
above  and  hauled  by  women  at  the  other  end.  When  the  time  came 
to  strike  tent,  the  line  was  loosed  and  the  poles  drawn  together  at 
their  bases.  Elliott,  however,  figures  a  group  of  Eskimos  landing  a 
huge  walrus  by  means  of  a  compound  pulley.  A  long,  stout  walrus 
line  passes  around  greasy  pegs  driven  between  the  rocks  and  through 
slits  cut  in  the  animal's  hide. 

There  was  nothing  on  the  continent  that  could  be  compared  to  a 
wheel,  either  for  carriage  or  for  mechanical  purposes,  when  Columbus 
discovered  America.     The  fly-wheel  was  well  known  and  widely  dis- 


ABORIGINAL  AMERICAN  MECHANICS.  11 

tributed  on  spindles  and  drills,  but  there  were  no  wheelbarrows,  carts 
or  carriages,  no  cranks,  or  windlasses,  or  capstans.  But  the  Alaskan 
Indians,  and  perhaps  others,  used  the  parbuckle,  which  combines  the 
roller  and  the  pulley  in  the  same  device.  For  hoisting  logs,  a  rope 
was  fastened  to  the  tops  of  posts,  passed  down  under  a  log  in  the 
ground,  back  over  the  top  of  the  post  and  down  to  the  ground,  where 
it  was  seized  by  men. 

Dr.  Boas  figures  in  his  Central  Eskimo  a  plug  of  wood  with  a 
thread  cut  on  it,  to  be  used  in  stopping  the  blood  flowing  from  a 
wounded  seal.  This  is  the  only  aboriginal  screw  ever  heard  of  in 
America.  This  is  quite  strange,  since  every  wrapping  and  seizing  is 
laid  on  spirally,  in  the  most  orderly  manner,  on  the  tools  and  weapons 
of  the  aborigines.  Tylor  informs  us  that,  though  the  principle  of  the 
screw  was  known  to  Greek  philosophers,  the  mechanics  of  the  classic 
times  used  nails,  but  no  screws,  and  did  not  understand  the  gimlet  or 
the  auger. 

The  METROLOGY  of  the  aboriginal  Americans  has  been  studied 
both  from  the  observational  and  the  deductive  side.  Omitting  the 
latter  for  the  present,  it  may  be  pleasant  to  gather  what  was  known 
about — 

1.  Counting,  numbering,  and  the  multiplication  table. 

2.  Weights  and  measures,  as  they  are  termed  in  the  arithmetics. 

3.  Money  and  the  mechanism  of  exchange. 

4.  Calendar  and  clock  time. 

These  ancient  manufacturers  and  builders  had  no  government 
standards  of  measuring  their  work,  but  referred  everything  to  their 
bodies.  This  system  was  far  more  accurate  among  rude  peoples, 
where  anthropometric  difterences  between  the  sexes  and  between 
individuals  were  very  slight.  Many  witnesses  confirm  the  opinion 
that  every  weapon  or  chunkee  pole  had  its  proportion  to  the  owner. 
Dr.  Mathews  says  that  the  Navajo  pole  for  the  great  hoop  game  was 
twice  the  span  long,  and  Mr.  Dorsey  found  that  the  Omaha  arrow 
had  to  measure  from  the  inner  angle  of  the  elbow  to  the  tip  of  the 
middle  finger,  and  thence  over  the  b  ack  of  the  hand  to  the  wrist-bone. 
1  have  examined  many  hundreds  of  quivers,  and  have  always  found 
the  arrows  to  be  of  the  same  length,  while  those  of  the  tribe  resemble 
in  general  appearance,  but  vary  slightly  in  length  for  each  man.  Dr. 
Dorsey  found  the  Naltunne,  on  Siletz  Agency,  in  Oregon,  using  the 
double  arm's  length,  the  single  arm's  length,  half  the  span,  the  cubit, 
the  half  cubit,  the  hand  length,  the  hand  width,  the  fingerwidth  (1,  2, 


78  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

3,  4,  5),  and  from  the  tip  of  the  elbow  across  the  body  to  the  end  of  the 
middle  finger  of  the  other  hand.  In  most  of  these  cases  the  starting- 
point  is  the  meeting  of  the  tips  of  the  thumb  and  index  finger. 
{Science,  N.  Y.,  1892,  xx,  194.) 

Among  the  Aztecs,  or  Nahuatls,  and  the  Mayas,  the  two  most 
cultivated  stocks  of  North  American  aborigines,  Brinton  finds  no 
words  for  estimating  quantity  by  gravity,  no  weighing  terms.  For 
extension,  the  human  body,  and,  largely,  the  hand  and  the  foot,  fur- 
nished standards  of  measuring.  Among  the  Mayas  the  footstep  or 
print,  or  length  of  the  foot,  was  very  familiar,  and  frequently  in  use 
by  artisans,  as  well  as  the  pace  or  stride. 

Quite  a  series  of  measures  were  recognized  from  the  ground  to 
the  upper  portions  of  the  body,  to  the  ankle,  to  the  upper  portion  of 
the  calf,  to  the  knee-cap,  to  the  girdle,  to  the  ribs  or  chest,  to  the 
mamma£,  to  the  neck,  to  the  mouth,  to  the  vertex.  Other  measures 
were  the  hand,  finger-breadths,  the  span,  half  around  the  hand,  as  in 
measuring  for  a  glove,  the  cubit,  the  fathom.  Journeys  were  counted 
by  resting-places. 

In  Aztec  metrology  the  fingers  appear  to  have  been  customary 
measures.  The  span  was  not  like  ours,  from  the  extremity  of  the 
thumb  to  the  extremity  of  the  little  finger,  nor  the  Cakchiquel,  from 
the  extremity  of  the  thumb  to  that  of  the  middle  finger,  but  like  that 
now  in  use  among  the  Mayas,  from  the  extremity  of  the  thumb  to 
that  of  the  index  finger. 

There  were  four  measures  from  the  point  of  the  elbow:  to  the 
wrist  of  the  same  arm;  to  the  wrist  of  the  opposite  arm;  to  the  ends  of 
the  fingers  of  the  same  arm;  to  the  ends  of  the  opposite  arm.  The 
arms  are  extended  always  at  right  angles  to  the  body. 

The  Aztec  arm  measures  were  from  the  tip  of  the  shoulder  to  the 
end  of  the  hand;  from  the  tip  of  the  fingers  of  one  hand  to  those  of 
the  other;  from  the  middle  of  the  breasts  to  the  end  of  the  fingers. 
The  octocatl,  or  "ten-foot  pole,"  approximately,  was  the  standard  of 
length  employed  in  laying  out  grounds  and  constructing  buildings. 

The  road  measure  of  the  Aztecs  was  by  the  stops  of  the  carriers, 
as  in  Guatemala. 

The  Aztecs  were  entirely  ignorant  of  balances,  scales  or  weights. 
The  plumb  line  must  have  been  unknown  to  the  Mexicans  also.* 


*D.  G.  Brinton,  Essavs  of  an  Americanist,  Phil.  1890,  433-451.  This  whole 
paper  should  be  consulted.  Charles  Whittlesey,  Metrical  Standards  of  the 
Mound-builders. 


THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY.  79 

A  curious  fact  in  engineering  is  recorded  by  that  most  careful  of 
observers,  Rev.  J.  O.  Dorsey,  regarding  the  Omaha  tribal  circles. 
He  says:  "  The  circle  was  not  made  by  measurement,  nor  did  any 
one  give  directions  where  each  tent  should  be  placed;  that  was  left  to 
the  women.  Though  they  did  not  measure  the  distance,  each  woman 
knew  where  to  pitch  her  tent."  She  also  knew  the  proper  distance 
apart  for  safety  on  the  one  hand,  or  for  the  convenience  of  dressing 
hides  on  the  other.* 

Dorsey  tells  me  the  Peruvians  had  elegant  balances. 

Federal  money  and  the  metric  system,  as  applied  to  the  mechan- 
ism of  exchange,  are  modern  returns  to  very  primitive  modes  of  reck- 
oning values.  The  basis  of  money  is  at  times  a  shell,  a  bead,  a  robe, 
a  skin.  The  purchasing  power  of  the  unit  is  fixed  in  each  case,  and 
among  certain  tribes  there  is  a  table  of  moneys,  such  as:  two  elks' 
teeth  equal  one  pony,  eight  ponies  equal  one  wife.f 

The  day's  journey  is  often  mentioned  as  a  fixed  distance.  This 
is  only  true  within  wide  limits,  and  it  scarcely  ever  exceeds  ten  miles 
for  marching. 

"The  Indians,  finding  that  their  wives  were  so  near  as  to  be 
within  one  of  their  ordinary  days'  work,  which  seldom  exceeded  ten 
or  twelve  miles,  determined  not  to  rest  till  they  had  joined  them.";J: 

The  Zuni  Indians  know  well  that  the  light  of  the  rising  sun  falls 
on  the  same  spot  but  two  days  in  the  year,  and  that  at  noon  the 
shadow  of  a  pillar  lengthens  and  then  shortens  back  to  the  same  spot 
in  the  same  period.  They  have  a  pillar  dedicated  to  astronomical 
observations.  On  many  houses  in  the  pueblo  there  are  scores  on  the 
wall,  opposite  windows  or  loop-holes,  for  the  purpose  of  recording  the 
movements  of  the  sun.  There  are  also  pillars  to  be  seen  in  other 
parts  of  the  world  which  could  possibly  be  dedicated  to  the  same  end, 
since  such  a  feat  is  performed  by  at  least  one  tribe.  This  reminds  one 
of  the  old  familiar  cuts  on  the  kitchen  window-sill  in  almost  every 
country  house. 

"  Each  morning,  just  at  dawn,  the  Sun  priest,  followed  by  the 
master  priest  of  the  Bow,  went  along  the  eastern  trail  to  the  ruined 
city  of  Ma-tsa-ki  by  the  riverside,  where,  awaited  at  a  distance  by  his 


*Dorsey,  III.  An.  Rep.  Bur.  Ethnol.,  Wash.,  1883,  pp.  219-220. 

fStearns,  Ethno.  Cotichology,  Rep.  U.  S.  N.  Mus., 
3  Gushing,  Am.  Anthropologist,  Wash.,  1892,  V. 

XWfxrne, Journey,  etc.,  Lond.,  1795,  Strahan,  185. 


fStearns,  Ethno.  Conchologj>,  Rep.  U.  S.  N.  Mus.,  1887,  with  bibliography 
Also  Gushing,  Atn.  Anthropologist,  Wash.,  1892,  V. 


80  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

companion,  he  slowly  approached  a  square  open  tower,  and  seated 
himself  just  inside  upon  a  rude  ancient  stone  chair,  and  before  a  pillar 
sculptured  with  the  face  of  the  sun,  the  sacred  hand,  the  morning  star 
and  the  new  moon.  Here  he  awaited,  with  prayer  and  sacred  song, 
the  rising  of  the  sun.  Not  many  such  pilgrimages  are  made  ere 
the  suns  look  at  each  other,  and  the  shadows  of  the  solar  monolith, 
the  monument  of  Thunder  Mountain,  and  the  pillar  of  the  gardens 
of  Zuni  lie  along  the  same  trail;  then  the  priest  blesses,  thanks  and 
exhorts  his  father,  while  the  warrior  guardian  responds  as  he  cuts 
the  last  notch  in  his  pine-wood  calendar,  and  both  hasten  back  to  call 
from  the  housetops  the  glad  tidings  of  the  return  of  spring.  Nor  may 
the  Sun  priest  err  in  his  watch  of  time's  flight,  for  many  are  the 
houses  in  Zuni  with  scores  in  their  walls  or  ancient  plates  embedded 
therein,  while  opposite  a  convenient  window  or  small  porthole  lets  in 
the  light  of  the  rising  sun,  which  shines  but  two  mornings  of  the  365 
on  the  same  place.  Wonderfully  reliable  are  these  rude  systems  of 
orientation,  by  which  the  religion,  the  labors,  and  even  the  pastimes 
of  the  Zuni  are  regulated. "  * 

1  have  heard  that  the  Montagnais  hunters,  in  going  along,  stand 
sticks  upright  in  the  snow  at  points  agreed  upon,  and  make  a  scratch 
where  the  shadow  lies.  The  women,  coming  after,  observe  the  angle 
between  the  scratch  and  the  shadow,  and  by  the  size  of  the  angle  de- 
termine their  pace  to  the  next  station.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  whether  the  men  or  the  women  devised  this  primitive  clock. 

The  evolution  of  machinery  cannot  be  ignored  in  this  connection. 
A  machine  is  a  contrivance  for  changing  the  direction  and  the  velocity 
of  motion  or  force.  It  cannot  create  force  any  more  than  a  tool  can. 
On  the  contrary,  it  consumes  a  vast  amount  of  force  in  its  own  work- 
ing. By  means  of  a  tool  the  entire  force  exerted  is  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  material.  The  machine,  by  the  waste  of  a  portion  of  the 
force,  enables  the  workman  to  apply  his  efforts  more  rapidly,  more 
powerfully,  or  in  ways  unattainable  by  hand. 

All  power  at  first  was  hand-power;  the  machinery  of  the  world 
was  moved  only  by  human  muscles.  In  the  chapter  on  animals  will 
be  treated  the  gradual  enlistment  of  domestic  beasts  in  the  service  of 
man.    Besides  these,  winds  and  water  currents  gradually  have  been 


*F.  H.  Gushing,  Century  Magazine,  quoted  in  Nature,  Lond.,  1892,  Mar.  17, 
p.  464. 

Time  of  day  among  the  Navajo,  see  Matthews,  Mountain  Chant,  V.,  An.  Rep. 
Bur.  Ethnol.,  389. 


ABORIGINAL  AMERICAN   MECHANICS.  81 

domesticated  for  human  uses  in  savagery.     The  study  of  these  is 
essential  to  a  knowledge  of  industrial  progress. 

The  Zuni  woman's  extremely  simple  potter's  wheel,  which  is  noth- 
ing more  than  the  turning  of  her  vessel  about  in  a  box  of  dry  sand  as 
the  work  goes  on,  is  only  a  little  more  rude  than  the  fashion  in  the  in- 
terior of  China  of  putting  a  lump  of  clay  on  the  top  of  a  revolving 
shaft  which  they  turn  with  one  hand  while  the  pot  is  formed  with  the 
other, 

"  The  potter's  wheel  was  known  in  the  world  from  high  antiquity. 
The  Africans  push  a  mass  of  clay  around  with  one  hand  and  form  it 
with  the  other.  The  Egyptian  potter  turned  the  wheel  by  hand.  The 
Hindu  potter  goes  down  to  the  riverside  when  a  flood  has  brought  him 
a  deposit  of  fine  clay,  where  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  knead  a  batch  of  it, 
stick  up  his  pivot  in  the  ground,  balance  the  heavy  wooden  table  on 
the  top,  give  it  a  spin  and  set  to  work."  * 

The  spindle  with  its  whorl  is  a  free  wheel  and  axle  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  flywheel  fully  developed.  The  twister,  well  known  to 
savages,  is  a  still  simpler  flywheel.  The  Zuni  Indians  make  a  block  of 
wood  about  8x3xi^  inches.  Near  one  end  a  hole  is  made,  ^  inch  in 
diameter,  and  the  stick  is  notched  just  outside  this  hole.  This  is  the 
flywheel.  A  stick  with  a  head  cut  on  it  is  thrust  through  the  hole  and 
serves  for  a  handle.  One  end  of  the  material  to  be  twisted  is  tied  to 
the  notch  on  the  flywheel,  and  the  other  end  to  some  fixed  object.  The 
twister  holds  to  the  handle  and  causes  the  fly  to  revolve  by  the  motion 
of  the  hand. 

"  It  is  extremely  probable  that  the  first  continuous  motion  was 
employed  in  connection  with  the  grinding  of  corn."  f 

In  this  same  connection  Shaw  arranges  his  corn-grinders  as  fol- 
lows: 1.  Simple  stone  pounder,  2.  Mortar  and  pestle,  worked 
(a)  by  slaves,  {b)  by  bondmen,  (c)  by  cattle.  3.  Flat  cylindrical 
stone  with  vertical  spindle.  But,  in  reality,  there  have  been  two  series, 
the  mortar  series  and  the  grinding  series,  the  order  of  which  last  would 
be:  1.  Rubber  and  flat  native  rock.  2.  Metate  and  muller.  3.  The 
rotary  mill,  driven  first  by  hand  and  after  by  animals,  winds  and 
water. 

The  utilization  of  the  wind  in  locomotion  will  be  studied  in  the 
chapter  on  primitive  transportation.    The  Indians  of  the  plains,  who 


*Tylor,  Anihropologv,  N.  Y.,  t88l,  p.  275. 
tShaw,  J.,  Soc.  /trts.,  Lond.,  1885,  XXXIU.  395. 


82  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

dwelt  in  skin  lodges,  understood  the  use  of  the  fly  and  extra  pole  on 
the  tent  to  utilize  the  wind  in  creating  a  draft  and  drawing  the  smoke 
out  of  the  dwelling.  The  sail  is  also  used  in  the  Arctic  regions  to  aid 
driving  the  sled  over  smooth  ice.  But  no  savage  had  any  conception 
of  a  windmill  or  invited  the  air  to  participate  in  doing  mechanical  work. 

If  we  were  permitted  to  coin  a  word,  we  should  call  all  the  arts 
combined  that  relate  to  the  getting,  preserving  and  utilizing  of  water, 
hydrotechny;  but  that  would  furnish  rather  a  long  term  for  the  study 
of  these  arts, — hydrotechnology,— though  it  is  not  lacking  in  euphony. 
The  spring,  the  well,  the  city  reservoir  and  waterworks;  the  open 
stream,  the  canal,  the  locomotive;  the  tide  wheel,  the  overshot,  the 
turbine — all  of  these  indicate  progress  in  hydrotechny  as  related  to  ali- 
ment, to  transportation,  to  irrigation  and  to  manufactures.  The  world's 
progress  has  followed  the  water,  and  water  has  never  been  absent  from 
men's  minds. 

No  aborigines,  unaided  by  domestic  animals,  have  displayed  so 
much  patience  and  ingenuity  in  the  storage  and  conducting  of  water 
as  the  Indians  of  the  arid  region  of  the  United  States.  Throughout 
the  public  region,  says  Mr.  Hodge,  works  of  irrigation  abound  in  the 
valleys  and  on  the  mountain  slopes,  especially  along  the  drainage  of 
the  Gila  and  the  Salado,  in  Southern  Arizona,  where  the  inhabitants 
are  engaged  in  agriculture  to  a  vast  extent  by  this  means.  The  arable 
tract  of  the  Salado  comprises  450,000  acres,  and  the  ancient  inhabit- 
ants controlled  the  watering  of  at  least  250,000  acres.  The  outlines  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  ancient  main  irrigating  ditches  may  be 
readily  traced,  some  of  which  meander  southward  a  distance  of  four- 
teen miles.  In  one  place  the  main  canal  was  found  to  be  a  ditch 
within  a  ditch,  the  bed  being  seven  feet  deep.  The  lower  section  was 
only  four  feet  wide,  but  the  sides  broadened  in  their  ascent  to  a 
"  bench  "  three  feet  wide  on  each  side  of  the  canal.  Remains  of  balsas 
were  recovered,  showing  that  the  transportation  of  material  was  also 
carried  on.  Remains  of  flood  gates  were  found  by  Mr.  Gushing,  and 
great  reservoirs  for  storage  of  water,  one  example  being  200  feet  long 
and  15  feet  in  depth.* 

In  the  earliest  engineering  feats  two  facts  must  be  sharply  kept 
before  the  mind,  to- wit:  That  time  was  no  object,  and  that  there  were 
no  private  buildings.  Suppose  that  every  laboring  person  in  Chicago 
should  be  immediately  withdrawn  from  all  private  work,  and  that  they 

*  F.  W.  Hodge,  Am.  Anthropologist,  July,  1893,  pp.  323-330. 


ABORIGINAL  AMERICAN   MECHANICS.  83 

all  should  be  organized  to  labor  for  ten  years  upon  some  government 
building  as  a  memorial  of  the  city's  grandeur.  One  million  hand  labor- 
ers would  erect  a  pyramid  containing  fifteen  thousand  milliards  of  tons 
of  earth,  and  the  mechanics  would  put  on  the  top  of  it  a  structure 
larger  than  all  the  monuments  in  Egypt  combined. 

The  only  puzzle  the  modern  student  can  have  is  to  conceive  how 
the  ancient  engineer  lifted  these  great  weights.  If  he  could  lift  them 
he  could  move  them,  if  was  within  the  ability  of  a  company  of 
American  Indians  in  several  areas  to  hammer  down  any  great  stone 
into  any  form.  It  was  customary  for  them,  as  tribes,  to  all  engage  in 
the  same  operation  in  hauling  logs,  or  seines,  or  boats,  or  stones,  in 
rowing  and  dancing.  The  problem  is  somewhat  like  that  of  Archi- 
medes. "  Given  a  rope  long  enough  and  a  crib  work  strong  enough," 
and  any  modern  savage  people  will  undertake  to  set  up  the  monu- 
ments of  Brittany.  In  point  of  fact  the  ancient  Americans  did  quarry 
single  stones  weighing  three  hundred  tons,  did  move  them  great  dis- 
tances and  set  them  in  place.  In  the  copper  mines  of  Michigan  was 
discovered  a  huge  nugget  of  copper  resting  still  on  a  mass  of  cob  work. 
Around  were  wedges  and  mauls,  and,  by  means  of  shoving  up  alternate 
sides  after  lifting  them  by  wedges,  the  engineers  had  hoisted  the  mass 
twenty-six  feet.  This  is  the  only  historic  example  I  have  found  of 
actual  work  done,  and  here  I  leave  the  American  aboriginal  mechanic. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  RESEARCHES  IN  THE  CHAMPLAIN 

VALLEY. 

BY  G.  H.    PERKINS. 

THE  Champlain  Valley,  though  of  comparatively  inconsiderable 
area  and  containing  neither  mounds  nor  extensive  village  sites, 
has  nevertheless  yielded  to  diligent  search  many  objects  of  con- 
siderable archaeological  interest. 

It  is  not  the  design  of  the  writer  to  give  any  detailed  account  of 
the  numerous  specimens  which  have  been  found  in  the  Champlain 
Valley.  For  such  accounts  those  interested  are  referred  to  sundry  art- 
icles published  elsewhere,*  in  which  many  of  the  objects  to  which 
allusion  is  here  made  are  fully  described,  and  many  of  them  tlgured. 

In  the  present  paper  it  is  intended  to  present  in  as  general  a  man- 
ner as  possible  the  results  of  more  than  twenty  years'  investigation  in 
the  region  under  consideration. 

As  to  the  age  and  origin  of  most  of  the  specimens,  little  that  is 
certain  can  be  said,  although  we  may  be  tolerably  sure  that  most  are  of 
no  very  great  antiquity,  but  were  made  and  used  by  the  Algonkins  and 
Iroquois,  who  occupied  the  country  when  first  visited  by  Europeans. 
Continually  at  war  with  each  other,  and,  in  some  respects,  widely  dif- 
ferent as  were  these  two  peoples,  they  were  nevertheless  quite  similar 
in  the  routine  of  their  daily  life,  and  the  implements,  ornaments  and 
weapons  of  either  one  do  not  appear  to  have  been  very  unlike  those  of 
the  other. 

At  any  rate,  I  have  not  found  it  in  any  way  practicable  to  distin- 
guish those  specimens  which  belonged  to  one  from  those  of  the  other 
as  they  occur  in  our  collections. 

And  yet,  when  we  compare  the  specimens  of  the  Champlain 
Valley  with  those  from  other  parts  of  New  England  on  the  one  hand  and 
with  those  from  New  York  and  the  West  on  the  other,  we  see  very 
clearly  that  archasologically,  the  Champlain  Valley  belongs  with  New 


*yimerican  Naturalist,  Vol.  V.,  page  11;  Vol.  XIII.,  page  731;  Vol.  XV.,  page 
426;  Vol.  XIX.,  page  1143;  Vol.  XX.,  page  333.  Proc.  A.  A.  A.  S.,  Vol.  XXII., 
page  76;  Vol.  XXV.,  page  325;  Vol.  XXVll.,  page  312.    Science,  Oct.  17,  1892. 

84 


ARCHytOLOGlCAL  RESEARCHES  IN  THE  CHAMPLAIN  VALLEY.       85 

York  and  the  West  rather  than  with  New  England  and  the  East.  That 
is,  the  stone,  bone  and  metal  objects  which  we  have  collected  resem- 
ble far  more  closely  those  which  are  undoubtedly  Iroquois  than  they 
do  those  which  are  Algonkin,  and  for  this  reason  our  specimens  are 
more  varied  in  form  and  more  elegant  in  workmanship  than  those 
found  in  any  other  part  of  New  England. 

In  many  localities,  notably  the  Mississippi  Valley,  finely  wrought 
objects  are  much  more  abundant  than  they  are  in  this  region,  but, 
though  fewer,  our  specimens  are  not  in  any  wise  inferior  in  quality. 

Most  of  the  types  of  stone  implements  found  in  the  United  States 
are  more  or  less  completely  represented  in  the  Champlain  Valley, 
many  of  them  very  exactly.  In  looking  over  a  large  collection  gath- 
ered from  either  side  of  the  lake,  one  is  constantly  reminded  of  typical 
specimens  from  the  Ohio  mounds,  the  graves  of  Tennessee,  the  shell- 
heaps  of  Florida,  and  even  the  common  forms  of  the  Pacific  coast.  Of 
course,  much  of  this  resemblance  is  due  to  the  same  cause  as  is  that 
found  all  over  the  world,  the  common  result  obtained  by  the  exercise 
of  common  skill  and  ingenuity  working  in  a  common  material,  which 
gives  us  stone  implements  which  are,  in  a  general  way,  similar  wher- 
ever found,  and  by  whomsoever  made.  But  it  is  more  than  this, 
for  it  is  not  so  much  in  the  rude  and  common  implements  that  we  find 
our  close  resemblances  as  in  those  of  finer  finish,  and  we  must  con- 
clude, both  because  of  the  material  as  well  as  of  the  form,  that  an  ex- 
tensive interchange  of  objects  by  barter  or  the  fortunes  of  war,  or  both, 
was  carried  on  by  the  aborigines  in  the  Champlain  Valley,  as  we  know 
it  to  have  been  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

This  interchange  of  objects  by  tribes  occupying  different  parts  of 
the  country  is  abundantly  shown  by  the  presence  of  points,  knives  and 
the  like,  made  from  the  brightly  hued  agates  and  jaspers  of  the  West, 
by  those  beaten  from  the  native  copper  of  Lake  Superior,  by  beads  of 
shell  and  coral  from  the  South,  and  by  the  presence  of  other  materials 
not  found  in  the  region. 

Copper  beaten  into  points,  knives,  bars  or  sheets  is  found, 
though  not  abundantly,  and  there  is  one  gouge  of  this  material.  More 
sparingly  used  and  apparently  only  for  ornament  was  shell,  of  which 
material  beads  of  different  sorts  were  made.  Coral  beads  have  also 
been  found  in  one  or  two  localities.  It  seems  most  probable  that  bone 
was  often  used  for  the  manufacture  of  awls  and  similar  implements, 
though  very  few  objects  made  of  bone  have  been  found.  This  may  be 
explained  by  the  conditions  of  soil,  and  especially  climate,  to  which 


86  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

all  our  relics  have  been  exposed,  and  which  must  have  been  very  un- 
favorable to  the  preservation  of  a  substance  like  bone;  so  that, 
although  bone  implements  were  in  common  use  among  the  tribes 
formerly  occupying  the  Champlain  Valley,  they  have  for  the  most 
part  disappeared  through  decomposition. 

The  statements  made  to  Champlain  by  his  Algonkm  companions 
in  1609  that,  because  of  long-continued  warfare  between  themselves 
and  the  Iroquois,  the  borders  of  the  lake  to  which  his  name  is  given 
were  not  and  had  not  for  a  long  time  been  permanently  inhabited,  are 
verified  by  the  almost  entire  absence  of  ancient  village  sites.  With 
not  more  than  two  or  three  exceptions,  we  find  evidence  throughout 
the  valley  of  camp  sites  rather  than  village  sites,  of  occupation  for  a 
season  rather  than  for  years. 

Very  much  might  be  said  of  the  pottery  of  the  Champlain  Valley 
but  without  the  aid  of  abundant  illustration  it  is  not  easy  to  give  a 
clear  idea  of  its  great  variety  and  real  artistic  quality.  It  is  very 
noticeable  that  the  resemblance  of  specimens  from  the  Champlain 
Valley  to  specimens  from  the  interior,  the  South  or  the  Pacific  coast, 
often  so  exact  as  to  become  identity  in  the  case  of  stone  implements 
or  ornaments,  almost  disappears  in  the  earthenware. 

Fragments  of  earthenware  are  not  at  all  uncommon  in  the  area 
we  are  studying,  though  entire  jars  are  very  rare,  but  among  all  the 
multitude  of  these  fragments  we  find  little  that  resembles  the  pottery 
of  the  West.  As  will  be  seen  later,  the  decoration  is  almost  endlessly 
varied,  but  it  is  not  the  decoration  of  the  pottery  of  the  mounds  or 
graves  of  other  localities.  No  single  example  of  the  animal  forms  of 
the  mounds,  no  bit  of  colored  or  painted  ware  has  been  discovered. 

If  judged  by  their  earthenware  alone,  the  tribes  of  the  Champlain 
Valley  would  undoubtedly  be  regarded  as  quite  distinct  from  those  of 
the  West,  while,  if  we  use  all  the  rest  of  the  relics  which  they  have 
left  as  the  basis  of  comparison,  the  difference  does  not  seem  to  be 
great,  as  it  was  not.  Although  for  the  most  part  in  fragments,  the 
specimens  of  pottery  found  are  amply  sut!lcient  to  show  the  form  of 
the  entire  jars  and  the  character  of  their  decoration.  No  one,  I  am 
sure,  can  examine  a  considerable  collection  of  these  pieces  of  earthen- 
ware without  realizing  the  fact  that  the  makers  were  exceedingly  skill- 
ful, both  in  the  treatment  of  the  unbaked  clay  and  in  its  final  orna- 
mentation, and  gifted  with  no  little  artistic  taste. 

The  form  of  the  jars  is  readily  understood  from  the  few  entire 
specimens  and  from  the  many  large  fragments.     It  was  always  glob- 


ARCH^OLOGICAL  RESEARCHES  IN  THE  CHAMPLAIN  VALLEY.       87 

ular,  or  in  rare  instances  sub-conical,  but  the  upper  portion  is  not  al- 
ways circular,  since  in  quite  a  number  of  examples  the  rim  is  quad- 
rangular, or  in  very  rare  cases  polygonal.  These  more  elaborately 
shaped  jars  are  always  very  elaborately  ornamented  and  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  finest  specimens  of  earthenware  found  in  the  region. 

The  paste  used,  a  mixture  of  pounded  stone,  quartz,  mica,  feld- 
spar, and  sometimes  other  materials,  with  clay,  was  of  very  variable 
nature,  now  being  very  tine,  now  with  larger  bits  of  stone,  now  very 
coarse.  Some  of  the  pottery  was  burned  until  it  was  almost  black; 
most  is  dark  red;  some  so  light  that  it  seems  to  have  been  but  little 
exposed  to  the  fire.  The  figures  used  in  decorating  were  neither 
numerous  nor  complex,  being  always  impressed  upon  the  soft  surface 
of  the  unburned  jar  and  consisting  of  either  lines  of  different  width  and 
length,  or  of  small  figures,  such  as  circles,  triangles,  pits,  squares, 
crescents  and  the  like.  Dentellated  and  zigzag  figures  were  used,  and 
stamps  an  inch  or  more  long  were  made  by  which  the  impression  was 
produced. 

Although  the  number  of  distinct  figures  used  was  not  large,  yet 
by  combining  them  in  diiferent  ways  almost  endless  diversity  was  pro- 
duced in  the  patterns.  The  decoration  is  sometimes  exceedingly  deli- 
cate and  regular,  though,  of  course,  in  other  examples  it  is  ruder  and 
coarser.  In  some  jars  the  ornamentation  is  contlned  to  a  narrow  band 
about  the  rim,  while  in  others  the  entire  surface  is  covered  with  lines 
and  figures  drawn  on  the  curved  surface  with  surprising  regularity. 
Some  jars  are  not  only  adorned  on  the  outside,  but  there  are  lines  and 
even  figures  on  the  inside.  The  rim,  too,  is  not  always  left  plain, 
but  may  be  scalloped  very  nicely.  A  favorite  style  of  ornament 
appears  to  have  been  a  complex  grouping  of  lines  drawn  in  dilTerent 
directions,  horizontal,  oblique,  vertical,  etc. 

Besides  jars,  pipes  were  also  made  of  earthenware,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  finest  material  was  used.  These  pipes  are,  some  of  them, 
shaped  much  like  the  modern  clay  pipe;  others  are  straight  tubes  flar- 
ing at  the  larger  end. 

In  a  region  where  the  manufacture  of  pottery  was  so  commonly 
and  so  extensively  carried  on,  we  should  expect  to  discover  the  ancient 
kilns  in  which  it  was  burned,  and  so  we  do,  in  one  locality  at  least. 
Just  north  of  Plattsburgh,  on  the  lake  shore,  is  a  ridge  of  sand  where, 
with  my  friend  Dr.  Kellogg,  1  have  found  a  number  of  undoubted 
kilns  in  which  pottery  was  burned,  as  the  numerous  clusters  of  burned 
stones,  masses  of  burned  clay  and  a  very  great  number  of  bits  of  pot- 


88  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

tery  amply  prove.  From  this  place  Dr.  Kellogg  has  taken  several 
bushels  of  fragments,  some  of  them  of  large  size,  and  has  been  able  to 
restore  two  jars  entirely 

Where  pottery  was  so  abundant  it  would  seem  to  be  a  waste  of 
labor  to  manufacture  dishes  of  stone,  and  such  are  very  rare  in  this 
region;  but  a  few  have  been  found.  Steatite  is  found  in  many  parts 
of  the  Champlain  Valley,  especially  on  the  Vermont  side,  and  this  ma- 
terial was  now  and  then  used  for  the  making  of  shallow  dishes  of  no 
large  size.  They  were  usually  well  finished,  and,  in  at  least  one  in- 
stance, even  ornamented  by  raised  figures  on  the  outside. 

Slate  of  various  shades  of  red,  green,  purple,  brown  or  black  is 
common  in  Vermont,  and,  as  would  be  expected,  a  material  so  excel- 
lently adapted  to  the  purposes  of  the  worker  in  stone  was  not  over- 
looked. Not  only  was  it  used  for  making  gorgets,  two-hole  stones, 
banner  stones  and  the  like,  but  even  points,  knives  and  scrapers  were 
also  sometimes  made  of  slate.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  characteristic 
objects  which  is  found  is  a  form  of  slate  knife  not  unlike  those  of 
quartz  in  outline,  which  is  long,  triangular,  or  even  linear  in  outline, 
the  surface  ground,  not  flaked,  smoothly  finished,  often  polished,  and 
with  a  straight  stem  or  haft,  along  each  side  of  which  are  several 
notches  or  scallops.  Some  of  these  knives  are  so  long — five  or  six 
inches — and  so  slender  that  they  seem  wholly  incapable  of  any  service, 
and  their  purpose  is  quite  uncertain. 

Perhaps  no  other  class  of  specimens  so  well  illustrates  the  skill  of 
the  worker  in  stone  as  do  the  pipes.  While,  as  compared  with  the 
many  superb  pipes  which  the  mounds  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Valleys  have  afforded,  those  from  the  Champlain  Valley  may  appear 
very  insignificant,  yet  a  by  no  means  contemptible  collection  has  here 
been  obtained.  Our  pipes  are  not  equal  in  either  elaborateness  of  de- 
sign or  variety  of  form  to  those  from  the  localities  named,  but,  though 
plainer  and  simpler,  they  are  not  at  all  inferior  in  regularity  of  form 
or  perfection  of  finish.  The  most  important  of  our  pipes  are  the  very 
few  which  are  carved  to  represent  animals,  and  especially  two  which 
are  ornamented  with  carved  human  faces,  the  latter  being  the  only  spe- 
cimens of  any  sort  in  our  collections  in  which  an  attempt  is  made  to 
imitate  any  part  of  the  human  body. 

1  do  not  know  that  the  material  of  the  Champlain  pipes  differs 
from  that  used  in  other  places.  It  is,  naturally,  stone  not  very  hard, 
of  attractive  appearance,  and  capable  of  receiving  a  polish.  Steatite, 
gypsum,  limestone,  slate,  were  most  often  chosen  for  this  purpose. 


ARCH^OLOGICAL  RESEARCHES  IN  THE  CHAMPLAIN  VALLEY.       89 

Besides  platform,  bell-shaped,  trumpet-shaped  and  other  com- 
mon forms  of  pipes,  there  occur  straight  tubular  pipes  very  much  like 
those  of  the  Pacific. coast.  This  may  even  be  regarded  as  our  most 
common  form,  for  there  are  many  more  tubular  pipes  than  there  are 
of  any  other  single  form,  though  not  by  any  means  more  than  of  all 
other  forms.  In  length  these  straight  pipes  vary  from  two  or  three  inches 
to  twelve  or  fifteen. 

Most  of  the  usual  forms  of  what  are  known  as  ornamental  or 
ceremonial  objects,  such  as  bird-shaped  stones,  banner  stones,  two-hole 
stones,  pendants,  and  so  on,  are  found  in  the  collections  from  the 
Champlain  Valley.  Some  of  the  handsomest  of  these  are  of  banded  slate, 
but  much  harder  stone  was  often  used,  granite,  porphyry,  greenstone, 
or  quartz.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  design  of  these  objects,  no 
labor  was  too  great,  no  polish  too  fine  to  satisfy  the  makers. 

Discoidal  stones,  rare  in  the  East,  are  sparingly  found  in  the  re- 
gion we  are  studying.  A  few  of  these  are  very  finely  made  and  pol- 
ished, but  many  more  are  rude  and  poorly  finished. 

The  usual  kinds  of  celts  are  found  commonly,  and  1  do  not  think 
that  we  have  any  very  peculiar  forms.  Our  celts  are  most  often 
rather  long  and  slender,  though  short  and  clumsy  specimens  are  not 
wanting.  Some  of  them  have  each  end  ground  to  an  edge,  and  the 
transition  from  celt  to  gouge,  or  hollow  chisel,  is  seen  in  a  few  speci- 
mens which  are  celt  at  one  end  and  gouge  at  the  other. 

Probably  nowhere  does  the  gouge  occupy  relatively  so  important 
a  place  in  archaeological  collections  as  in  the  Champlain  Valley.  Here 
it  occurs  of  many  forms  and  sizes,  and  is  excelled  in  beauty  of  mate- 
rial and  elegance  of  workmanship  by  no  other  class  of  objects,  at  least 
when  only  the  best  examples  are  considered.  Indeed,  so  perfectly  are 
some  of  our  gouges  made  and  finished  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
they  were  ever  intended  to  be  put  among  the  common  implements  of 
everyday  life. 

I  do  not  at  all  suppose  that  the  greater  part  of  the  gouges,  cer- 
tainly the  ruder  ones,  were  for  other  than  the  most  utilitarian 
purposes,  but  those  which  are  of  most  perfect  form,  of  the  same  hand- 
some stone  as  that  of  which  amulets  and  such  undoubtedly  ceremonial 
objects  were  made,  and  moreover  showing  no  sign  of  use,  though  not 
of  the  hardest  material,  it  seems  to  me  more  reasonable  to  regard  as 
ceremonial  rather  than  simply  useful  objects.  Some  of  the  finest 
gouges  are  large,  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  long,  and  in  a  few  cases 
more,  the  longest  which  I  have  seen  being  nineteen  inches  long;  but 


90  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  other  proportions  do  not  increase  with  the  length,  as  nearly  all  the 
long  gouges  are  quite  slender.  The  individuality  which  is  noticeable 
in  all  the  better  specimens  of  stone  implements  is  especially  manifest 
in  the  gouges.  Scarcely  any  two  are  exactly  alike,  and  it  is  not  often 
that  two  can  be  found  that  can  fairly  be  regarded  as  duplicates. 

As  on  the  one  hand  the  celt  passes  into  the  gouge,  so  on  the  other 
it  develops  into  the  grooved  axe.  Apparently,  the- early  inhabitants  of 
the  Champlain  Valley  had  very  few  axes  of  this  sort.  At  any  rate, 
few  have  been  found.  Most  of  them  are  very  well  shaped  and 
smoothly  finished,  though  very  rude  specimens  occur.  A  few  are  very 
small,  mere  little  hatchets,  and  none  are  large,  the  heaviest  as  com- 
pared with  axes  of  the  South  and  West  being  not  more  than  of 
medium  size. 

The  mortar  and  pestle,  so  important  in  the  household  economy  of 
all  Indian  tribes,  are  not  lacking  in  our  collections.  The  mortars  were 
generally  rude,  little  more  labor  having  been  expended  upon  them  than 
was  required  to  excavate  a  shallow  depression,  though  sometimes  the 
whole  was  more  or  less  worked  out,  the  result  being  a  mortar  much 
like  those  common  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  pestle,  however,  though 
sometimes  rude,  was  more  often  carefully  hammered  into  shape,  and 
even  polished.  In  a  few  cases  the  one  end  was  carved  to  resemble  the 
head  of  an  animal,  four  such  pestles  having  been  found.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  the  longest  and  best-finished  pestles  were  not  designed  as 
such,  but  were  to  be  used  as  clubs.  Several  of  these  are  over  two  feet 
long,  and  one  is  twenty-nine  inches. 

It  goes  without  saying  that,  numerically,  the  larger  part  of  our 
collections  is  made  up  of  flaked  or  chipped  implements.  Not  only 
points  and  such  like  objects,  but  even  celts  and  other  tools  which, 
in  most  cases,  were  picked  and  ground,  were  occasionally  flaked. 
Some  of  these  recall  the  ordinary  Danish  celt.  Flaked  celts  or  axes 
are,  however,  very  seldom  found,  and  they  were  always  ground 
more  or  less  after  the  general  shape  was  produced  by  flaking. 

As  it  is  everywhere,  the  usual  material  of  flaked  specimens  is 
some  of  the  many  varieties  of  quartz  rock,  though  other  hard  stone 
was  sometimes  used.  A  bluish  or  grayish  quartzite  which  is  found  in 
place  in  Vermont  was  more  often  chosen  than  any  other  material,  and 
in  some  localities  nearly  all  the  points,  large  and  small,  are  of  this 
stone,  and  the  most  frequently  occurring  form  is  triangular,  with  a 
slightly  indented  base.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  white,  milky  quartz, 
so  often  used  in  Southern  New  England  and  elsewhere,  very  rarely 


AKCHyEOLOGICAL  RESEARCHES  IN  THE  CHAMPLAIN  VALLEY.       91 

occurs  in  this  region.  The  triangular  point  mentioned  above  is  found 
in  every  variety  of  size  and  proportion  from  little  points  not  more 
than  half  an  inch  long  to  those  that  are  four  or  five  inches  in  length. 
It  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  this  form  is  not  the  only  one 
found  here,  but  that,  while  this  is  most  common,  nearly,  and  I  think 
quite,  all  the  forms  which  have  been  found  in  other  parts  of  the 
United  States  have  also  been  found  in  the  Champlain  Valley,  except- 
ing perhaps  certain  unique  specimens. 

Our  collections  of  points,  knives,  etc.,  as  a  whole,  do  not,  in- 
deed, present  as  showy  and  attractive  an  appearance  to  the  observer  as 
do  many  similar  from  the  Mississippi  Valley  or  the  West,  but  the 
main  diiference  is  that  in  the  latter  linely-made  specimens,  of  beauti- 
ful material,  are  common;  in  our  collections  such  are  not  common, 
but  they  do  occur,  and  as  fine  as  can  be  found  anywhere:  /.  e.,  in  the 
Western  collections  there  are  many  splendid  examples  of  chipped  ob- 
jects, while  in  our  own  there  are  few,  but  what  we  have  are  every 
whit  as  excellent.  Obviously  a  detailed  account  of  the  specimens  of 
this  class  is  utterly  outside  of  the  plan  of  this  paper.  It  is  sufficient  to 
mention  the  points,  large  and  small,  knives,  scrapers,  drills,  and  so  on. 

Certain  very  large  flaked  objects,  ovate  or  leaf -shaped,  are  be- 
lieved to  be  agricultural  implements.  Some  of  these  are  very  nicely 
made,  but  they  do  not  equal  in  either  size  or  finish  similar  specimens 
found  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  paper  it  was  stated  that  probably  most  of 
the  objects  found  in  the  Champlain  Valley  should  be  referred  to  the 
Algonkin  and  Iroquois  occupants  of  the  region  when  it  was  first  en- 
tered by  Europeans.  This  may  be  true  of  all,  since  we  have  at  pres- 
ent no  means  of  ascertaining  how  long  these  tribes  had  lived  in  the 
lands  bordering  the  lake.  There  are,  however,  a  few  localities  in  which 
a  considerable  number  of  articles  have  been  discovered  under  circum- 
stances which  indicate— I  think  I  may  say  prove— very  much  greater 
antiquity  of  origin  than  could  be  claimed  for  most  of  the  objects  ob- 
tained. In  one  instance  very  rude  flaked  specimens  of  the  turtleback 
order  were  taken  from  undisturbed  subsoil  several  feet  below  the  surface. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  only  add  that  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the 
specimens  which  have  been  found  in  the  Champlain  Valley— at  any 
rate,  of  those  which  have  been  preserved— are  to  be  seen  in  the 
Museum  of  the  University  of  Vermont  at  Burlington,  and  in  the  very 
fine  collection  of  Dr.  D.  S.  Kellogg,  of  Plattsburgh,  N.  Y.,  though 
there  are  smaller  collections  at  the  State  Capitol  at  Montpelier  and  in 
the  possession  of  a  few  individuals. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  WORK  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

MICHIGAN. 

BY   HARLAN   I.    SMITH. 

THE  beginning  of  the  second  semester  of  the  college  year  1891-92 
marked  a  new  departure  for  Anthropology  at  the  University  of 
Michigan.  For  several  months  an  interest  in  this  study,  espe- 
cially in  the  branch  of  American  Archaeology,  had  been  ripening. 
Those  interested  had  been  discussing  matters  relating  to  the  various 
subjects  in  which  they  were  most  absorbed.  Collections  of  specimens 
and  photographs  were  examined  in  connection  with  these  private  con- 
versations. Papers  on  various  topics  of  popular  interest  were  given 
before  the  Geological  and  Philological  Societies  of  the  University. 
And  it  was  found  that  the  University  was  in  possession  of  several  im- 
portant collections  of  archiEological  material,  which  were  stored  away, 
and  which  were  so  interesting  and  instructive  as  to  merit  a  better 
place.  At  this  time  it  was  contemplated  to  arrange  these  collections 
in  the  University  Museum.  Prof.  F.  W.  Kelsey,  of  the  Latin  Depart- 
ment, who  had  carried  on  explorations  in  Rome,  and  who  was  greatly 
interested  in  Roman  archseology,  was  most  active  in  urging  the  cause. 
He  insisted  that  the  materials  should  be  worked  up  for  exhibition  and 
that  the  complete  data  be  recorded,  from  such  labels,  letters  and  notes 
as  were  at  hand,  before  there  was  a  possibility  of  any  loss  of  facts. 
He  further  urged  that  mounds,  village  sites  and  other  primitive  re- 
mains of  the  State  in  danger  of  destruction  be  examined  in  a  careful 
and  scientific  way,  before  any  commercial  enterprise  necessitated  their 
obliteration. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  matters  stood  when,  at  the  beginning  of 
a  new  semester,  Prof.  Kelsey  was  empowered  to  olTer  a  course  in 
"  Museum  Work  in  American  Archaeology."  The  Geological  Depart- 
ment kindly  turned  over  one  of  their  rooms  as  a  laboratory  for  the 
work,  and  later  in  the  year  proper  cases  were  constructed  in  the  west 
end  of  the  lower  hall  of  the  Museum  for  the  exhibition  of  specimens 
and  photographs,  and  such  specimens  as  were  ready  for  exhibition 
were  deposited  in  them. 

92 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  WORK  AT  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN.         93 

H.  C.  Markham  and  myself  were  the  only  students  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  for  museum  work.  Mr.  Markham  de- 
voted his  attention  to  literary  work  until  towards  the  end  of  the  sem- 
ester, when  he  began  investigating  the  manufacture  of  chipped  imple- 
ments and  the  processes  of  drilling  without  the  use  of  metal.  In  these 
investigations  he  was  fairly  successful,  and  gave  the  results  of  his 
work  in  a  paper  before  the  Geological  Society,  illustrating  his  subject 
by  chipping  several  forms  from  glass  and  by  perforating  pieces  of 
slate  by  means  of  a  soft  pine  drill  with  sand  and  water.  All  the  arch- 
^ological  materials  not  previously  arranged  for  exhibition  were  taken 
to  the  laboratory,  and  it  was  then  found  that  the  Department  was  in 
possession  of  a  much  more  valuable  collection  than  was  at  first  sup- 
posed. One  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  features  of  this  is 
a  typical  lot  of  about  forty  neolithic  implements  from  Denmark. 
Among  the  materials  illustrating  the  ceramic  art  is  a  series  of  potsherds 
and  pottery  vessels  collected  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Steere  about  twenty  years 
ago.  Of  these  a  number  are  from  the  large  islands  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Amazon;  still  more  are  from  Ancon  and  Pacasmayo,  in  Peru,  and 
not  a  few  were  obtained  in  the  East  Indies.  The  texture  and  orna- 
mentation of  all  of  these  is  very  interesting.  But  time  will  not  permit 
a  description  of  them  at  this  place.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  over  fifty 
of  the  vessels  that  were  badly  broken  have  been  carefully  restored. 
There  were  also  a  few  specimens  illustrating  the  archaeology  of  Michi- 
gan. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  laboratory  a  series  of  stone  ham- 
mers from  the  prehistoric  copper  mines  on  isle  Royal,  Michigan,  were 
presented  by  Prof.  Sherger,  and  the  citizens  of  Ann  Arbor  subscribed 
for  the  purchase  of  a  local  collection  of  stone  implements  known  as 
the  De  Pue  collection.  Besides  these  additions,  a  series  of  over  one 
hundred  plaster  casts  of  implements  and  other  prehistoric  objects  in 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  was  presented  to  the  Museum.  These 
casts  were  used  to  great  advantage  in  illustrating  a  number  of  lectures 
before  the  classes  in  history. 

Later  in  the  year  a  number  of  village  sites  were  discovered  and 
examined  in  a  preliminary  way,  and  an  extensive  survey  was  made  of 
one  of  the  so-called  "garden  beds"  near  Kalamazoo,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  department. 

So  rapid  has  been  the  accumulation  and  arrangement  of  materials 
that  the  cases  constructed  are  now  entirely  inadequate,  and  new  cases 
are  about  to  be  built  to  accommodate  several  collections  that  have  been 


94  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

promised,  and  to  make  room  for  photographs  and  diagrams  from  the 
laboratory.  It  is  desired  to  make  collections  illustrating  American 
archeology  when  accompanied  by  the  necessary  data,  in  regard  to  the 
locality  where,  and  the  conditions  under  which,  the  specimens  were 
found,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  collections  without  such  data,  and 
hence  with  less  scientific  value,  must  be  sacrificed  for  these.  Original 
research  is  to  be  encouraged  and  a  rigid  adherence  to  scientific  methods 
is  to  be  followed  in  order  that  the  new  department  may  not  fall  to  the 
level  of  a  museum  of  curiosities  instead  of  holding  to  its  original  pur- 
pose. 

Michigan  is  a  field  as  yet  comparatively  unexplored,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  it  may  be  carefully  and  scientifically  surveyed,  so  that  the 
results  will  be  of  value  to  science.  As  yet  the  work  has  been  almost 
exclusively  confined  to  archeology,  but  as  the  department  develops 
it  is  expected  that  the  other  important  phases  of  anthropological 
science  will  receive  attention. 

So  we  may  say,  1  think,  that  another  university,  and  one  in  the 
West,  has  taken  up  this  important  line  of  investigation. 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  CIVILIZATION  OF  PERU. 

BY   EMILIO   MONIES. 

LES  id^es  vraies  ou  fausses  se  d^veloppent  selon  le  milieu  oii  elles 
se  trouvcnt,  lequel  leur  en  impriment  un  caractere  tout  special 
d'originalite. 

L'hotnme  croit  etre  en  possession  de  la  v^rit^  quand  meme  il 
s'egard  par  I'erreur  la  plus  grossiere. 

Ah !  Et  combien  de  temps  lui  faudrat-il  pour  qu'il  en  revienne, 
pour  qu'il  reconnaisse  et  abdique  de  ses  erreurs,  de  ses  ^garements 
et  de  ses  surprises? 

Les  ann^es  et  les  siecles  courent  prdcipitament  dans  I'abime 
du  ndant,  et  sous  I'influence  du  temps  la  terre  et  tout  change;  mais 
I'erreur  change  tres  difficilement. 

C'est  ainsi  qu'aujourd'hui  on  pense  que  la  region  la  plus  an- 
cienne  d'ou  s'irradierent  les  premiers  rayons  de  civilisation  en  est 
I'Egypte — venant  imm^diatement  apres  I'Inde.  Mais  si  nous  ren- 
controns,  par  tout  ailleurs,  de  travaux  embrionaires,  si  nous  trou- 
vons  des  monuments  vraiment  primitifs  avec  ce  cachet  inddlebilede 
la  plus  haute  antiquity  et  revelant  dans  tout  son  ensemble  I'exis- 
tence  d'un  peuple,  nous  devons  proclamer  la  civilisation  de  ce  peu- 
ple,  certes,  apres  un  severe  et  mfir  examen,  comme  ant^rieur  a  la 
civilisation  Indienne  et  Egyptienne. 

L'dtincelle  que  jaillit  sous  la  main  de  I'ouvrier  en  posant  la 
derniere  pierre  qu'accomplissait  le  faite  de  son  m6r  cyclopden,nous 
la  voyons  encore  phosphorescente  a  la  silhuette  majestueuse  qui  se 
ddtache  au  fond  obscur  des  milliers  d'ann^es  qu'entourent  les  vastes 
et  immenses  monuments  du  plateau  du  Kuzko. 

Rompre  avec  la  croyance  et  I'idde  gdnt^rale  qui  regnent  de  nos 
jours  c'est  quelque  chose  de  fort,  c'est  peut-fitre  aller  contre  le  cou- 
rant.     Sombrerons  nous.''. . . . 

Le  motif  du  present  travail  est  tout  simplement  de  soumcttre 
a  votre  considciration  I'id^e  que  j'ai  du  Perou  prdhistoi  ique,  du 
Perou  pris  comme  le  premier  point  archcologique  d'oii  s'irrailicTcnt 
les  premiers  rayons  de  civilisation  et  du  progrcs.  La  science  nous 
rendra  de  vrais  et  positifs  services;  elle  nous  faira  voir  tout  claire- 

96 


96  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ment  que  le  Perou,  comme  je  viens  de  dire,  en  est  le  premier  peuple 
qui  donna  son  premier  pas  dans  la  voie  de  la  civilisation  et  du 
progres  sur  cette  terre  que  nous  habitons. 

En  dehors  de  toute  croyance  soit  religieuse  ou  non,  mais  qui 
empeche  de  voir  les  choses  comme  elles  doivent  etre  vraies,  nous 
d^duirons  cette  civilisation  des  objets  qui  nous  ont  laiss^  et  que 
nous  avons  devant  nous,  et  particuiierement  de  I'examen  de  ceux 
grandioses  et  surprenants  monuments  muets  parcequ'ils  n'en  ont  pas 
aucune  ^criture;  mais  parlants,  parcequ'ils  en  disent  plus  que  les 
caracteres  inventus  un  peu  plus  tard  par  I'homme  lui-meme  pour 
matdrialiser  sa  pensee  et  pour  qu'elle  en  fut  comprise  et  gard^e  en 
diffdrents  lieux  et  temps. 

Pour  entrer  franchement  sur  le  sujet  qui  nous  occupe  il  faut 
que  nous  fassions  une  ^tude  retrospective  de  ce  qu'etait  Thomme  a 
ses  premiers  jours.  Evidemment,  que  I'etre  de  raison  n'avait  pas  en- 
core ddvelopp^  ses  facultes  comme  dans  ces  derniers  temps;  non, 
la  sensibility,  plus  qu'aucune  autre  faculty,  jouait  dans  ces  moments- 
la  un  r61e  important;  plus  tard  c'est  I'intelligence  s'harmonisant 
avec  la  sensibility  qui  president  tons  ces  actes;  la  raison,  avec  tout 
son  ^clat,  viendra  plus  tard  et  metrissera  et  sa  pensee  et  tous  ces 
actes. 

II. 

L'homme  ne  pent  pas  rester  tranquille  parcequ'il  a  en  lui  le 
germe  d'une  activite  qui  tire  son  origine  de  Dieu  lui-meme;  mais  il 
lui  faut  de  moyens  pour  qu'il  arrive  a  se  d^velopper  et  a  realiser  sa 
destin^e.  II  se  mettera  done  a  chercher  les  moyens  qui  doivent  sat- 
isfaire  ses  necessites. 

C'est  done  a  I'imperfection  de  la  nature  humaine  que  nous  re- 
trouverons  I'origine  du  travail;  par  consequent  ce  n'est  pas  un  cha- 
timent  comme  nous  fait  connaitre  la  tradition  mosaique;  c'est  tout 
simplement  l'homme  s'enquirant  de  moyens  pour  accomplir  sades- 

tin^e. 

Par  le  travail  l'homme  a  maitris^  la  terre  et  tout  ce  qu'elle  en 
contiens.  Dou^  d'une  nature  p^rissable,  mais  dot^  d'un  principle 
de  vie,  il  a  voulu  que  ses  CEUvres  defiassent  et  la  mort  et  les  temps. 
Et  ses  songes  et  ses  desirs  se  sont  accomplis!  Car  ces  monuments 
et  ces  objets  construits  il  y  a  au  moins  70  siecles  nous  les  voyons  en- 
core debout. 

Sur  les  fronts  de  ces  anciennes  constructions  et  a  ses  pieds  nous 
retrouverons  encore,  et  les  empreints  et  les  traces  des  generations 


THE    ANTIQUITY   OF   THE   CIVILIZATION   OF   PERU.  97 

qui  ont  pass6  conime  nous  passerons  bientot  a  la  region  etcrnelle 
des  ombres,  laissant  derriere  nous  des  glorieux  souvenirs,  que  les 
nouvelles  generations  sauront  profiter. 

C'est  aussi  a  ces  monuments  que  nous  nous  adresserons,  car  ils 
en  contiennent  beaucoup  de  pr^cieux  renseignements  a  nous  donner. 


III. 

Les  monuments  et  les  objets  sortis  des  mains  de  I'homme  pri- 
mitif  au  Kuzko  sont  presque  tous  decor^s  de  serpents,  divinit^s  de 
ces  temps  vraiments  pr^historiques,  ou  I'homme  effray6  et  ^pou- 
vante  par  I'hideuse  figure  de  ces  animaux,  il  les  a  cru  sup^rieurs  a 
lui,  et  connaissant  sa  faiblesse  ou  sans  la  connaitre,  eleva  dans  son 
cccur  d'une  maniere  instinctive  un  autel  ou  expontan^ment  rendu 
son  culte  a  ces  etres  horribles,  qui  les  croyait  de  beaucoup  sup^rieurs 
a  lui;  croyance  qui  porte  avec  soi  la  faiblesse  humaine,  origine  de 
toute  religion. 

Mais  ce  cult  devait  revetir  une  forme  ext^rieure,  et  c'est  pour 
cela  que  nous  voyons  sur  ces  monuments-la  et  sur  ces  pierres-^i 
les  serpents,  qui  ne  sont  autre  chose  que  les  monstres  horribles  qui 
remplissaient  de  terreur  et  d'epouvante  les  esprits  naifs  des  pre- 
miers habitants  de  la  terre. 

Quand  I'homme  conndt  dans  tous  ses  details  cette  terre  que 
nous  habitons,  quand  il  eut  conscience  et  certitude  que  sur  cette 
planete  n'existait  pas  d'autre  etre  sup^rieur  a  lui,  alors,  proclama  sa 
royaute,  fonda  sa  dynastie  et  s'appela  "  Roi  de  la  Creation."  En- 
suite,  il  oublia  en  rougissant  de  honte  sa  premiere  religion  et  en 
prit  une  autre. 

IV. 

La  religion  qui  avait  pour  mythe  le  serpent  se  rdpandit  dans 
tout  le  monde.  D'abord,  elle  s'irradiat  au  Nord  du  Pcrou  (Colom- 
bie),  puis  au  Nord  (Am6rique  Centrale  et  Yukatan),  jusqu'au 
Mexique,  la  elle  fit  hate  et  elle  avait  dejii  des  caracteres  pour  in- 
struir  avantageusement  le  peuple.  Apres,  en  passant  par  ce  terri- 
toire  et  comme  un  souvenir  du  triomphe  de  la  religion  du  serpent 
dans  tout  ce  continent  et  pour  marquer  le  passage  en  Asie,  bAti  son 
adoratorio  serpent,  lequcl  fiit  conserve  tout  dcrnicrement  par  les 
efforts  de  I'infatigable  et  distingue  savant  Prof.  F.  VV.  Putnam. 


98  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

V. 

Comme  nous  venons  de  dire,  I'architecture  au  Mexique  est  d^jk 
parlante.  Et  les  temples  et  palais,  les  obelisques  et  jardins  suspen- 
dus  epars  ^a  et  la  au  grand  plateau  du  Kuzko,  se  reproduisent  en 
mieux  et  sous  un  cachet  d'originalite  au  plateau  Mexicain,  oil  la 
pyramide  s'ebauche  pour  la  premiere  fois  dans  I'atelier  de  I'etre 
pensant.  Plus  tard  et  plus  loin  il  reconstruira  de  nouveau,  mais 
avec  un  fini  d'art  qu'aujourd'hui  meme  nous  voyons  (5merveilles 
ces  imposantes  constructions  au  plateau  d'Iran,  a  la  valine  de  I'ln- 
dus,  aux  plaines  de  Ghizeh,  tout  pres  de  Memphis,  a  Thebes, 
a  Babylone,  a  Seleucie  et  tant  d'autres  villes  et  contrees  oil  I'art 
arriva  a  donner  son  dernier  coup  de  perfectionnement  aux  travaux 
ebauches  au  grand  plateau  du  Kuzko,  reproduis  de  mieux  en 
mieux  et  avec  un  certain  cachet  d'originalite  jusqu'au  plateau 
Mexicain. 

VI. 

Au  Perou  nous  trouvons  de  monuments  et  d'objets  en  pierre 
— ils  n'ont  pas  aucune  ecriture  parcequ'ils  ont  6te  batis  par 
I'homme  primitif,  par  I'homme  qui  n'avait  pas  encore  songea  man- 
ifester  ses  pens^es  par  le  moyen  de  Tecriture,  fusse  phonetique, 
cuneiforme  ou  hi^roglyphique,  et  par  cela  meme  nous  en 
concluerons:  que  ces  monuments  sont  bien  plus  anciens  que 
ceux  de  Tlnde  et  de  I'Egypte,  car  il  font  voir  et  par  1'^- 
criture  et  par  les  hi^roglyphiques  qu'ils  en  contienent  a  I'homme 
deja  bien  avance  sur  le  chemin  de  la  civilization  et  du  progres. 

Dans  ces  deux  contrees,  I'lnde  et  I'Egypte,  nous  entrons  de  but 
en  blanc  dans  une  civilization  qui  n'a  rien  d'embrionaire,  pendant 
qu'au  Perou,  c'est  tout  le  contraire,  nous  voyons  un  peuple  primi- 
tif qui  fait  son  premier  ouvrage  sur  lequel  il  a  mit  en  relict  son  pre- 
mier Dieu,  le  serpent. 

C'est  done  au  Perou  que  nous  trouverons  les  monuments  les 
plus  anciens  qui  existent  au  monde,  c'est  la  qui  raillit  pour  la  pre- 
miere fois  I'^tincelle  de  la  civilization  qui  grandira  dans  les  temps 
par  I'effort  des  generations.  C'est  aussi  au  Perou,  si  nous  jetons 
un  regard  avide,  que  nous  trouverons  la  plus  vieille  race  qui  existe 
au  monde;  c'est  la  race  Kechua  que  nous  rencontrerons  au  Kuzko 
et  ses  environs;  race  completement  ancienne  car  ses  fruits  se  deve- 
loppent  instantanement,  mArissent  bientot.  En  effet,  tous  les  en- 
f  ants  Kcchuas  ont  dans  ses  traits  quelque  chose  qu'annonce  I'ancien- 


THE    ANTIQUITY    OF    THE    CIVILIZATION    OF    PERU.  99 

net^,  et  si  nous  les  entendons  parler  nous  seront  emerveillds  de 
voir  que  ses  pensees  sont  d'un  homme  et  non  pas  d'un  enfant  de 
trois  ou  quatre  ans.  lis  expriment  a  merveille  ses  pe?isees  et  prononce 
et  conuaissent  sa  langue  comme  un  academician;  c'est  le  Kechua 
qu'ils  en  parlent,  langue  primitive  et  synth(§tique,  car  avec  un  seul 
mot  ils  expriment  toute  une  pens^e  entiere;  langue  qui  a  beaucoup 
de  resemblance  avec  I'h^breu. 

Je  serai  heureux  si  tout  ce  que  je  viens  de  dire  f6t  confirm^ 
par  ia  science  et  par  I'etude  comparative  des  monuments  et  d'objets 
anciens  des  temps  prehistoriques  du  Perou,  Mexique,  I'lnde  et  I'E- 
gypte,  sans  oublier  le  Japon  et  la  Chine;  car  les  objets  et  les  con- 
structions anciennes  de  ces  deux  nations  ont  ses  points  de  resem- 
blance aux  constructions  primitives  am6ricaines — sont  des  points  de 
passage,  pour  ainsi  dire,  qui  marquent  la  marche  de  la  civilization 
d'Amerique  en  Asie. 


CAVE-DWELLERS  OF  THE  SIERRA  MADRE. 
BY  CARL  LUMHOLTZ. 

IN  speaking  of  the  cave-dwellers  of  the  Sierra Madre,  whence  I  have 
just  returned,  I  shall  first  have  to  say  that  the  late  Lieutenant 
Schwatka's  writings  about  these  people  were  a  gross  piece  of 
humbug.  De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum.  But  as  I,  on  account  of  a 
prolonged  stay  of  secluded  life  in  the  Mexican  mountains,  only 
recently  came  across  a  magazine  article  of  his  published  last  year, 
and  as  I  fear  that  some  scientists  may  have  been  led  to  believe  in  his 
so-called  discoveries,  1  am  in  the  name  of  truth  bound  to  state: 

1.  His  journey  of  discovery  was  to  go  by  stage  from  Chihuahua 
to  Carichic;  from  there  he  took  mules  and  went  on  the  beaten  track 
to  Urique — five  days'  ordinary  journey, — whence  he  returned  by  an- 
other beaten  track  through  the  well-known  mining  town  Batopilas.  1 
have  ample  proofs  to  show  that  he  never  left  this  beaten  track,  the 
camino  real,  to  examine  a  cave. 

2.  What  he  relates  about  "  living  cliff-dwellers,"  as  he  calls  them, 
is  what  he  has  heard  from  others,  supplemented  by  his  own  imagina- 
tion. 

3.  He  also  brought  back  "  cliff-dwellers"  to  Chicago.  With  the 
exception  of  a  woman  and  child,  who  were  pagans,  and  possibly  may 
have  been  living  in  a  cave,  the  "  cliff-dwellers"  were  from  a  village, 
Yoquibo.  To  speak  of  these  as  cliff  or  cave-dwellers  is  ridiculous  in 
the  extreme  to  any  one  who  knows  the  facts. 

I  hardly  think  1  need  waste  time  by  going  farther  into  the  sub- 
ject of  this  kind  of  "  cliff-dwellers."  1  shall  now  show  that  there  are 
cave-dwellers  in  the  Sierra  Madre,  but  they  are  very  different  from 
those  that  the  vivid  imagination  of  the  late  Lieutenant  Schwatka 
evolved. 

While  the  northern  part  of  the  Chihuahua  Sierra  Madre  has  a 
considerable  number  of  sometimes  very  fine  ancient  cliff  and  cave 
dwellings,  besides  a  few  other  antiquities  (square  stone  houses,  fort- 
resses, etc.,  on  top  of  the  mountains)  the  southern  half  of  the  Sierra 
is  almost  destitute  of  antiquities.     Only  rarely  one  meets  with  old 

100 


CAVE-DWELLERS  OF  THE  SIERRA   MADRE.  101 

cave  houses.  I  have  mostly  found  them  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Rio  Fuerte,  and  the  Tarahumaris  tell  me  that  they  were  built  by  the 
Tubares,  a  now  nearly  extinct  tribe,  which  used  to  be  constantly  at 
war  with  the  Tarahumaris.  These  houses  are  very  simple,  the  caves 
being  merely  walled  in,  and  the  houses  are  one  or  two  stories,  accord- 
ing to  the  height  of  the  cave.  Other  kinds  of  ruins  one  does  not 
meet  with  except  in  the  adjoining  ranges  and  valleys  of  the  tierra 
caliente.  This  southern  part  of  the  Chihuahua  Sierra  Madre  is  in- 
habited by  the  numerous  Tarahumari  tribe,  while  towards  the  south 
the  Tepehuanes,  of  whom  some  two  thousand  live  in  Chihuahua,  ad- 
join them;  the  Tubares  are  their  neighbors  towards  the  west,  and  the 
Pimas  towards  the  northwest. 

First  a  few  words  about  the  physical  geography  of  the  country 
inhabited  by  these  tribes.  Sierra  Madre  is  in  Northern  Mexico,  a 
broad,  high  plateau,  some  7,000  to  8,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  falling  abruptly  down  towards  the  west,  while  towards  the  east  it 
gradually  sinks  down  in  the  extensive  lowlands  of  Eastern  Chihuahua. 
A  few  summits  rise  to  10,000  feet,  while  one  of  them,  Cerro  de  Mui- 
nora,  near  the  State  of  Durango,  I  found  to  be  10,450  feet,  thus  with- 
out doubt  the  highest  in  Chihuahua.  There  are  a  few  llanos,  but 
they  are  small.  The  general  character  of  the  landscape  is  one  of  small 
hills  and  valleys,  sparingly  watered  and  covered  with  forests  of  pine 
and  oak.  Very  characteristic  of  the  landscape  here  are,  however,  the 
so-called  "barrancas,"  which,  like  huge  cracks,  3,000  to  5,000 
feet  deep  canons,  traverse  the  high  plateau,  generally  from  east  to 
west.  Nearly  the  whole  country  of  the  Tarahumari  is  drained  by  the 
Rio  Fuerte,  which,  with  its  numerous  tributaries  and  side  branches, 
forms  as  many  barrancas.  While  the  temperature  of  the  highland  is 
moderate,  with  even  snow  in  the  winter,  it  becomes  down  in  the  bar- 
rancas one  of  excessive  heat,  only  pleasant  in  the  winter  time.  The 
climate  is  also  very  dry,  but  as  corn  will  grow  with  a  moderate 
amount  of  rain,  it  generally  does  well  both  on  the  highland  and  in  the 
barrancas,  where  also  beans  and  tobacco  thrive.  Turkeys,  deer,  lions, 
bears,  squirrels  and  rats  are  common,  while  in  the  canons  the  felis 
onia  and  the  pecary  are  found.  Still,  animal  life  is  not  rich.  Edible 
fruits  and  roots  and  a  variety  of  palatable  herbs  (at  least  to  me),  for 
instance  the  common  watercress,  species  of  mentha  (I-pa-saa-te), 
chenopodium,  cirsium,  etc.,  are  quite  numerous,  especially  in  the  bar- 
rancas. The  general  impression  of  the  landscape  is  one  of  rocks  and 
pines,  with  nothing  of  romance  about  it;  while  the  stupendous  chasms, 


102         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  barrancas,  with  their  odd  vegetation  of  opiintice,  agave,  dasylirium, 
and  down  below  the  wondrous  columns  of  cereus  pithaya  are  grand 
beyond  conception,  seen  from  above  the  crest,  their  yawning  abysses 
winding  along  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  Weathered  porphyry  and 
interstratified  sandstone  is  the  most  common  rock,  and  innumerable 
caves  and  shelters  are  found  everywhere. 

This  country,  where  the  natives  count  only  three  seasons,  the 
dry,  the  rainy,  and  the  winter,  is  occupied  almost  entirely  by  the 
Tarahumari  Indians,  who,  generally  speaking,  live  between  25  j^  and 
29  degrees  north  latitude,  i.  e.,  from  the  pueblo  of  Temosachic  south 
towards  the  border  of  Durango. 

These  people  are  the  present-day  cave-dwellers  of  the  American 
continent.  Some  of  them  are  permanent  cave-dwellers,  for  there 
are  barrancas  and  arroyos  where  cave-dwellers  always  may  be  found, 
but  most  of  them  are  only  temporarily  so.  The  Tarahumaris  may 
change  abode  several  times  a  year,  because  they  plant  corn  in 
diiferent  places,  and  remove  their  domesticated  animals  (cattle, 
sheep  and  goats)  according  to  the  season,  and  for  other  reasons 
known  only  to  themselves.  The  so-called  Christian  Tarahumari  lives 
in  winter  in  the  village,  or  pueblo,  while  he  spends  the  rest  of  the 
year  at  his  ranch,  generally  living  in  humble  wooden  shelters,  and 
sometimes  in  caves.  Many  at  present  do  not  come  to  the  villages  at 
all,  as  the  missionaries  taught  them: to  do,  but  go  into  caves  in  the 
winter,  se  encuevan,  the  Mexicans  say.  Thus  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Nararachic  many  Christians  are  cave-dwellers  during  the  winter,  but 
in  the  summer  most  of  them  leave  the  caves  for  fear  of  the  scorpions, 
tarantulas  and  "vinagrones"  {Telyphonus),  which  in  the  warm 
weather  frequent  the  rocks.  Many  caves  have  also  within  the  mem- 
ory of  man  been  left  for  good,  owing  to  Mexican  occupation  of  the 
lands  and  the  Tarahumaris'  dislike  of  being  near  the  whites. 

As  regards  the  pagans  ("gentiles"),  who  still  in  considerable 
numbers  are  found  in  the  remote  barrancas  so  difficult  of  access,  they 
all  love  caves,  but  their  mode  of  life  is  shifting.  They  plant  corn  high 
up  on  the  crests  of  the  barrancas  in  March,  and  again,  when  the 
rains  commence  in  June  and  July,  they  descend  into  these  canons  to 
plant  corn  here.  Subsequently  they  harvest,  first  upon  the  high  ridges, 
then  in  the  barrancas,  where  they  retire  for  the  winter  to  enjoy  the 
warm  temperature,  living,  generally  speaking,  on  the  ridges  in  a  kind  of 
wooden  house  or  shelter,  and  down  in  the  barrancas  in  caves,  or  under 
a  big  stone,  or  under  a  tree,  as  the  case  may  be.    The  greatest  num- 


CAVE-DWELLERS   OF  THE    SIERRA   MADRE.  103 

ber  of  inhabited  caves  are  found  in  the  western  part  of  the  Sierra  to- 
wards Sinaloa.  It  is  very  seldom  indeed  that  the  caves  are  improved. 
1  have  in  a  few  cases  seen  partitions  of  stone  and  adobe,  but  they 
never  reach  to  the  top  of  the  cave.  The  most  common  improvement 
is  a  stone  wall  in  front  of  the  cave,  reaching  to  a  man's  breast.  Al- 
most invariably  queer  little  square  store-houses  or  closets  of  stone  and 
adobe  are  met  with  inside  the  cave,  and  also  round  ones  in  many  re- 
mote and  inaccessible  places  outside.  The  caves  are  rarely  found  in 
inaccessible  places,  like  some  in  the  United  States;  if  they  are  difficult 
of  access,  they  are  made  accessible  by  one  or  two  wooden  ladders, 
or,  rather,  notched  trunks  of  trees. 

It  is  hard  on  tlesh  and  blood  to  climb  up  and  down  these  bar- 
rancas, working  one's  way  slowly  among  precipices  or  in  the  river 
running  at  the  bottom,  and  besides  having  very  little  to  eat,  but  all 
one's  troubles  are  amply  repaid  by  meeting  the  primitive  inhabi- 
tants of  these  canons.  They  cultivate  their  small  fields  of  corn,  beans 
and  tobacco  on  terraces,  exactly  of  the  same  kind  I  have  so  often 
seen  farther  north,  abandoned  ages  and  ages  ago  {trinjeras,  the  Mexi- 
cans call  them — rffles).  They,  like  their  Christian  brethren,  are  in 
the  possession  of  domesticated  animals,  and  all  that  usually  accom- 
panies these,  also  iron  implements,  but  in  any  other  respect  they  seem 
to  be  in  the  same  stage  of  culture  as  they  were  at  the  time  of  the  con- 
quest. Spanish  is  not  spoken  among  them.  The  women  wear  a 
skirt,  and  the  men  a  breech-cloth  around  the  loins,  but  they  are  other- 
wise naked,  covering  themselves  with  tunics,  however,  in  chilly 
weather.  The  caves  are  always  found  apart,  often  a  mile  or  more 
distant,  but  sometimes  only  100  or  200  yards.  I  have  heard  of  one 
arroyo  where  six  can  be  seen  at  the  same  time,  some  thirty  or  fifty 
yards  between  each,  but  this  is  a  rare  case.  It  is  also  rare  that  more 
than  one  family  lives  in  the  same  cave;  in  that  case  near  relatives.  A 
peculiar  custom  it  is  that  the  Tarahumari  father  and  mother  at  night 
leave  the  house  or  cave  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  children,  while  they 
goto  sleep  under  a  tree,  in  the  shelter  of  the  store  house,  or  in  a  cave, 
according  to  convenience. 

Not  only  the  Tarahumaris,  but  also  the  Pimas,  to  the  northwest, 
and  the  Tepehuanes,  to  the  south,  as  well  as  the  allied  Huarogios,  in 
their  limited  area  to  the  west,  are  more  or  less  cave-dwellers,  although 
the  majority  even  of  the  Tarahumaris  live  in  wooden  or  stone  hovels. 

I  have  spent  one  and  a  half  years  among  these  people,  and  have 
taken  down  fairly  complete  vocabularies  of  the  Tarahumari,  Tepehu- 


104         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ane  and  Tubar  languages,  having  had  valuable  assistance  from  my  tem- 
porary companion,  Mr.  C.  V.  Hartman.  The  best  part  of  the  last 
year  1  have  lived  among  the  Tarahumaris,  who  are  the  most  primitive 
of  them  all.  1  have  generally  been  accompanied  by  one  or  two  Mexi- 
cans, the  rest  of  my  party  being  made  up  of  Indians  who  carried  my 
things,  but  1  also  at  times  have  had  only  Indian  companions.  I  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  bring  back  very  rich  anthropological  mate- 
rial as  well  as  the  implements  and  utensils  these  people  are  possessed  of, 
and  I  shall  now  take  the  liberty  of  making  a  few  remarks  on  the  Ta- 
rahumaris, such  as  the  time  allotted  to  me  permits. 

Tarahumari  {Ta-ra,  count;  hu-ma-ri,  run)  means  people  who 
run  according  to  count.  The  name  originates  from  the  custom,  at 
the  foot-races,  to  keep  an  account  of  the  circuits  by  laying  down  on 
the  ground  as  many  stones  in  a  row  as  there  are  to  be  circuits,  and 
taking  away  one  stone  for  each  circuit  that  has  been  made.  They  are 
of  medium  height  and  dark  brown;  hair  black  and  straight.  Rare  in- 
stances of  wavy  hair  may  be  not  iced.  The  people  of  the  barrancas 
are  smaller  than  those  of  the  highlands,  but  they  are  all  muscular  and 
singularly  able  to  endure  exertion  and  fatigue.  There  are  probably  no 
greater  foot-runners  than  these  people;  they  outrun  any  horse,  not  by 
speed,  but  perseverance.  Good  runners  have  at  the  foot-races  been 
known  to  make  over  forty  miles  in  six  to  eight  hours,  endurance  more 
than  speed  being  the  point  of  the  play.  They  will  pursue  deer  in  snow 
for  two  or  three  days  until  the  hoofs  drop  oiT  the  animal,  and  it  thus 
becomes  an  easy  prey.  Although  their  arms  are  not  strong,  1  have  had, 
out  of  a  number  of  twelve,  five  lift  1 02  kilos,  while  three  lifted  1 3o  kilos. 
Having  got  the  burden  on  their  backs,  these  same  three  carried  102 
kilos  on  level  ground  500  feet,  without  much  trouble,  although  they 
were  all  pretty  well  starved  at  the  time  the  experiments  were  made. 

Their  senses  are  keen,  but  not  very  much  superior  to  the  senses  of 
those  among  us  who  are  well  endowed  in  this  regard.-  They  certainly 
do  not  feel  pain  in  the  same  degree  as  we  do.  I  have  taken  hair  sam- 
ples from  heads  of  more  than  fifty,  but  not  one  of  them  minded  in 
the  slightest  degree  having  thirty  or  forty  hairs  pulled  out  at  the  same 
time.  Once  six  hairs  were  simultaneously  pulled  out  from  a  sleep- 
ing four-year  old  child,  without  causing  the  least  disturbance.  1 
asked  for  more,  and  twenty-three  hairs  pulled  out  made  the  child 
scratch  itself  a  little  at  the  place,  but  it  continued  sleeping. 

They  beckon  with  their  mouth,  protruding  it  and  raising  the  head 
in  the  desired  direction. 


CAVE-DWELLERS   OF  THE   SIERRA   MADRE.  105 

Their  only  weapon  is  the  bow  and  arrow,  the  shaft  being  made 
generally  from  reed,  sometimes  from  a  kind  of  salix.  The  points  are 
long  and  of  hard  wood,  and  the  arrow-release  is  primary. 

They  show  considerable  artistic  sense  in  the  ever  varying  pretty 
patterns  of  their  blankets  (the  looms  are  worked  on  the  ground)  and 
girdles.  Their  basket-work  is  very  simple  and  admits  of  no  compar- 
ison with  the  work  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Their  pottery  is 
rude,  and  the  best  the  Tarahumari  can  produce  is  red-colored,  but  in 
no  other  way  does  he  understand  how  to  decorate  it,  differing  in  this 
respect  entirely  from  the  ancient  clitf-dwellers,  who  have  left  us 
some  very  pretty  pottery.  He  shows  only  the  rudiments  of  the  archi- 
tectural skill  of  the  ancient  cliff-dwellers,  and  he  does  not  tame  the 
turkey  or  the  eagle,  or  other  birds  or  animals. 

One  certainly  must  admire  the  dexterity,  and  even  ingenuity, 
these  people  show  in  trapping  animals.  Even  horses  have  been  known 
to  be  caught  and  hoisted  up  in  the  snares  laid  for  the  foot  of  the  deer, 
and  thus  killed.  Every  day  he  either  sets  his  traps  for  deer  or  smaller 
animals,  or  he  goes  hunting  with  his  bow  and  arrow  or  his  axe.  In 
order  to  get  at  the  squirrels  he  will  cut  down  six  or  more  big  pine  trees, 
a  whole  day's  work  for  a  small  animal,  which  he  carries  home  hidden 
in  his  blanket,  that  nobody  may  see  it  and  help  him  to  eat  it.  The 
fish  are  poisoned  wholesale  in  April  and  May,  different  kinds  of  plants 
being  used  for  the  purpose,  especially  Palo  de  la  Flecha. 

The  principal  food  \s  pinole  of  corn,  and  meat  of  squirrels,  rats, 
mice,  snakes,  etc.,  etc.  The  greater  part  of  the  corn  is  used  for  the 
making  of  native  beer.  The  Tarahumari's  store  of  corn  is  gone  by 
February  or  March,  and  thus  half  the  year  he  lives  in  plenty,  while 
the  other  half  he  keeps  up  a  starving  existence,  subsisting  mainly  on 
the  heart  of  the  maguey,  baked  between  hot  stones  {Mescal  tatemada), 
and  also  on  the  fruits  of  Cereus  Pilhaya,  and  other  fruits,  different 
herbs,  fish,  etc. 

He  is  quite  clever  in  skinning  and  stuffing  animals  and  would 
make  an  excellent  taxidermist,  for  he  goes  much  into  detail  and  is 
minute  and  exact  in  all  his  doings.  He  considers  well  before  he  makes 
a  bargain,  and  in  important  bargains  he  consults  every  member  of  his 
family.  To  strangers  he  does  not  sell  anything  at  all.  It  is  a  favor 
he  confers  upon  another  to  part  with  any  of  his  belongings,  and  after- 
wards the  two  who  made  the  bargain  consider  themselves  united  in  a 
tie  of  brotherhood,  calling  each  other  Na-ra-giia,  and  confidence  is 
established  between  the  two,  almost  as  much  as  if  they  were  compadres. 


106        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Extremely  distrustful  of  strangers,  those  who  live  outside  of  the 
beaten  tracks  will  invariably  take  to  their  heels,  leaving  everything  be- 
hind them  at  the  approach  of  the  stranger.  They  are  timid  if  few  in 
number,  but  are  able  to  show  much  bravery  when  there  are  several 
together.  However,  they  are  a  very  peaceful  people,  and  will  not  do 
any  harm,  except  when  they  think  themselves  injured.  In  a  few  hours 
some  hundred  or  more  will  unite  to  kill  the  offender  with  arrows. 
There  are  two  or  three  barrancas  where  the  Tarahumaris  prevent 
whites  from  entering,  because  they  are  afraid  of  mines  being  discov- 
ered in  their  territory,  which  they  have  learnt  means  death  to  them. 

Very  hospitable  they  are  not.  In  their  house  or  cave  is  no  room 
for  the  stranger.  If  you  want  to  get  on  with  the  Tarahumari  you 
must,  on  arrival,  not  enter  the  house,  but  sit  down  patiently  at  thirty 
to  fifty  yards'  distance,  waiting  till  it  may  please  the  paterfamilias  to 
step  out  and  see  you.  This  takes  at  least  fifteen  minutes.  If  he  does 
not  know  the  person,  or  for  other  reasons,  the  visitor  may  have  to 
wait  two  hours.  Only  the  dogs  enter  the  houses  at  once,  say  these 
Indians.  A  Tarahumari  visiting  another,  be  it  his  best  friend,  is 
never,  except  in  the  case  of  exceptionally  bad  weather,  asked  to 
stay  for  the  night  in  his  house.  He  goes  and  sleeps  under  a  tree, 
or  a  big  stone.  Food,  however,  is  always  given  the  visitor,  if  he 
be  an  Indian. 

These  people  have  a  great  variety  of  games  and  plays,  the  favorite 
being  foot-racing.  The  women  also  race,  but  do  not  toss  the  ball  with 
their  feet  like  the  men;  they  throw  it  with  wooden  forks  as  they  run 
along.  Another  mode  is  to  throw  rings  with  sticks  as  they  run. 
"  Quinze  "  and  "  cuatro  "  and  dice  of  knucklebone  are  commonly  met 
with.  The  play  "Lechugia"  should  be  mentioned,  and  there  are 
also  the  contests  in  arrow-shooting  between  two  men,  and  the  Ta- 
kwa-riy  women  playing  with  a  ball  to  be  beaten  to  a  certain  goal. 

Although  in  all  bargains  a  Tarahumari  is  just  and  reliable,  he  will 
steal  if  he  thinks  himself  quite  safe  and  unobserved.  Between  them- 
selves this  is  not  often  the  case,  but  quite  recently  an  instance  came  to 
my  notice  of  two  Tarahumaris,  who  had  been  stealing  in  a  certain  bar. 
ranca,  being  summarily  dealt  with.  They  were  hanged,  and  arrows 
shot  through  their  bodies. 

They  are  very  critical  one  with  the  other,  and  a  great  deal  of 
gossip  goes  on.  Hence  probably  the  reason  that  they  are  so  bashful. 
They  are  not  specially  lovers  of  truth,  and  are  false  and  revengeful. 
The  women  are  chaste  and  object  to  unions  with  the  Mexicans.    Only 


CAVE-DWELLERS    OF  THE  SIERRA  MADRE.  107 

at  their  feasts,  when  they  regularly  become  intoxicated,  they,  as  well 
as  the  men,  seem  to  lose  all  shame. 

Of  marriage  ceremonies  there  are  few.  The  woman  seeks  the 
man,  and  when  all  has  been  agreed  upon  between  the  parents  of  the 
young  couple,  they  all  take  a  seat  on  the  floor;  the  young  couple  are 
covered  with  a  blanket,  and  admonitions  given  to  both  of  them. 
Then  the  father  of  the  boy  gives  his  daughter-in-law  a  gourd  of 
native  beer,  and  the  father  of  the  girl  gives  his  son-in-law  the  same; 
whereupon  they  all  drink  and  get  very  drunk. 

The  medicine-men  (o-wi-ru-ami— the  virtuous)  are  also  the 
priests.  Their  function  does  not  appear  to  be  very  dilTerent  from  that 
of  other  Northern  Indians.  But  it  may  interest  to  hear  the  names  of 
the  diseases  of  the  human  body  known  to  these  scientists.  All  sick- 
nesses have  their  origin  either  from  the  wind  or  witchcraft.  If  of  the 
first  kind,  nobody  dies  from  it.  Names  of  these:  Sti-ra-gaa-ga-ri, 
when  the  wind  settles  in  the  heart.  Ae-ma-gaa-go-ri,  wind  where  the 
liver  is.  Mau-au-gaa-go-ri,  wind  in  the  head.  All  other  diseases  are 
brought  about  by  the  wizards,  who  may  put  different  kinds  of  ani- 
mals, like  toads,  snakes,  centipedes,  scorpions,  etc.,  in  the  unfortunate 
people's  bodies,  which  can  only  be  cured  by  having  the  animal  drawn 
out.*  There  are  a  few  truly  excellent  remedies  of  the  Sierra  used  by 
these  doctors,  who  for  instance,  with  the  herba  de  vivora,  pretend  to 
cure  even  rattlesnake  bites,  but  they  generally  have  recourse  to  super- 
natural means,  and  there  are  specialists  for  the  different  tricks  to  be 
performed  on  the  patients.  To  keep  off"  small-pox  they  make  fences 
across  the  tracks  leading  to  the  house,  which  they  also  surround  by 
spiny  branches  of  different  trees,  snake  skins,  etc.,  not  to  forget  a 
cross  interwoven  with  different-colored  threads,  so  as  to  make  a  square 
piece,  that  is  hung  to  a  reed.  This  last  contrivance  makes  a  powerful 
talisman  called  [Vi-shi-ma.  Similar  ones  are  found  on  the  mummies 
of  Peru.  The  wizards  can  make  sick  or  kill  by  their  mere  thoughts,  but 
they  also  use  different  objects  to  obtain  their  ends:  lizards,  still  better 
the  fore-leg  of  a  toad  (because  it  is  a  good  animal,  being  an  active 
rainmaker,  and  is  never  killed  by  others  than  the  sorcerers),  but  prin- 
cipally the  humming-bird.  It  is  stripped  of  all  its  feathers,  and  dried, 
and  then  enveloped  in  the  cotton  of  Pochote.  To  the  Tarahumari  the 
humming-bird  represents  God,  and  is  much  mentioned  in  liis  songs. 


*  Really  serious  diseases  seldom  call  the  doctor's  skill  into  play,  for  the 
Tarahumaris  are  an  extremely  healthy  tribe. 


108         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  sorcerers  use  the  things  that  are  high  in  their  estimation  to  do 
evil  with. 

The  pivot  around  which  the  thoughts  of  these  Indians  move  is 
rain  and  native  beer,  hi  their  dry  country  rain  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance for  their  crops,  and  without  crops  they  do  not  get  their 
su-wee-ki  (beer,  made  from  maize).  The  Indian  is  inordinately  fond 
of  this,  besides  needing  it  for  his  ceremonies.  No  act  of  importance 
can  be  done  without  it.  Su-wee-ki  is  given  with  the  mother-milk  to 
the  infant  to  "  cure  it."  The  dead  do  not  get  rest  without  this  beer 
being  set  apart  for  them,  and  it  is  the  great  remedy  in  the  medicine- 
man's hands.  But  never  do  they  think  of  using  it  without  first  having 
sacrificed  a  part  to  their  god,  who  also  wants  this  drink  as  much  as 
they  do.     The  Mexicans  call  it  Teswaino. 

In  order  to  make  rain,  they  are  in  the  dry  season  kept  extremely 
busy  dancing  to  the  sun  and  moon.  The  sun  is  called  au-nau-ru-a- 
mi,  high  father;  the  moon  je-ru-a-mi,  high  mother.  They  pray  to 
them  in  their  houses,  but  generally  many  join  at  a  certain  place  to  do 
their  worship  and  prayers  by  dancing  in  front  of  a  cross.  One  or 
two  men  use  the  rattle  and  sing,  while  men  and  women  dance.  There 
are  different  dances  in  the  different  seasons,  but  the  principal  ones  are 
Yu-ma-ri,  a  circular  dance,  and  Ru-Hi-bu-ri,  a  kind  of  march  forward 
and  backward  in  a  line.  In  the  winter  Yo-he  is  used  for  making 
snow,  which  is  necessary  for  a  good  year.  They  always  sacrifice 
sheep  or  goats,  or  even  oxen;  formerly  it  was  deer  and  fish  and  squir- 
rels, and  still  is  so  in  many  places.  First  of  all,  the  beer  is  sacrificed  at 
the  commencement  of  the  ceremonies,  the  singer  throwing  up  in  the 
air  one  gourdful  to  the  east,  then  others  to  the  west,  south  and  north. 
The  same  is  done  to  the  meat  as  soon  as  it  is  boiled;  all  the  bones  have 
been  taken  out  and  no  salt  put  with  it.  The  dance  goes  on  all  through 
the  night,  and  with  much  earnestness,  that  the  effect  of  their  work 
may  not  be  spoilt.  The  pagans  generally  let  one  man  only  dance,  to 
make  sure  that  nothing — for  instance,  laughter  or  natural  noises— shall 
interfere  with  a  successful  result.  The  dancing  is  called  Nau-tsha-li 
o-la-wo-a;  this  means  literally:  they  are  going  to  work.  By  dancing 
they  also  keep  away  diseases,  besides  caterpillars  and  grasshoppers 
that  eat  the  corn.  For  the  dead  they  have  three  dancing-feasts  in  one 
year,  the  first  the  smallest,  the  last  the  biggest.  For  a  deceased  woman 
they  have  four,  which  is  also  the  case  if  the  deceased  is  a  man  who 
has  been  accustomed  to  drink  Hi-ko-ri.  I  cannot  here  enter  into  de- 
tails.   As  thanks  for  the  crops  they  give  several  of  these  dancing- 


CAVE-DWELLERS    OF  THE   SIERRA   MADRE,  109 

feasts,  the  first  being  the  most  important.  Several  basketfuls  of  ears 
of  corn  and  twelve  fresh  stalks  are  offered  to  the  god,  while  only  a 
small  portion  of  it  is  sacrificed,  together  with  all  sorts  of  food.  There 
is  not  a  family  that  dare  eat  any  part  of  the  corn  without  having  first 
sacrificed. 

The  Tarahumaris  do  all  kinds  of  work  in  common,  ploughing, 
sowing,  cleaning  the  cornfields  from  weeds,  harvesting,  tic.  The 
paterfamilias  and  his  household  dance  morning  and  evening,  sacrific- 
ing food  and  beer,  and  asking  the  sun  for  whatever  they  may  want, 
generally  rain.  On  the  third  day  come  the  neighbors,  perhaps  ten  to 
twenty,  who  get  through  with  their  work  by  noon.  After  that  they 
drink  and  get  very  drunk,  for,  formal  and  nice  as  everything  is 
through  the  business  part  of  the  ceremonies,  the  debaucheries  immed- 
iately afterwards  are  repulsive.  Fighting  and  killing  is  not  uncommon 
at  these  feasts.  A  Tarahumari  never  kills  another,  except  when 
drunk,  for  the  blood  is  God's,  he  says. 

For  the  benefit  of  the  moon,  who  is  very  efficient  in  making  rain, 
are  made  four  or  five  feasts  a  year.  Also  three  cigarettes  are  in  this 
case  offered  under  the  cross.  The  medicine-man  takes  one  of  them, 
gives  one  puff,  raising  simultaneously  the  cigarette  upwards  towards 
the  moon,  and  saying,  Su-ar  (Rise)  a-mi  (yonder)  re-pa  (upwards)! 
This  is  three  times  repeated.  The  master  of  the  house  and  wife  do  the 
same,  and  now  all  may  smoke.  The  ceremony  is  in  order  to  cause 
the  smoke  to  form  clouds  with  the  help  of  the  moon.  But  the  Tara- 
humari rarely  smokes  tobacco,  except  at  his  feasts.  He  would  offend 
the  sun  by  so  doing.  Therefore  in  most  cases  he  smokes  only  after 
sunset,  or  when  drunk  at  the  feast. 

For  the  sun  they  each  year  make  a  feast  of  three  days  on  two 
occasions.  Both  the  sun  and  the  moon  are  "  cured  "  at  the  feast  by  a 
mixture  of  different  remedies,  which  the  medicine-man  tastes  first  and 
then  throws  to  the  four  cardinal  points,  upward  to  their  father  and 
mother,  whom  they  besides  alternately  reproach  and  implore  to  gain 
their  ends. 

Their  dances  are  imitations  of  animals,  and  their  songs  implore 
the  animals  to  help.  The  birds,  who  sing  in  the  spring,  sing  for  rain; 
the  crickets,  the  turtles,  the  fish,  the  frogs,  all  help  to  make  rain,  and 
all  dance.  The  deer  in  the  pairing  season  taught  them  to  dance  their 
great  dance  Yu-ma-ri,  and  the  wild  turkey  taught  them  their  other 
great  dance  Ru-tu-bu-ri.  The  chapparal-cock  is  a  very  bad  bird.  If 
he  passes  near  by  a  house,  somebody  is  sure  to  die.   Still,  as  this  bird  is 


no         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  cause  of  hailstorms,  which  may  be  of  use  before  the  corn  gets  big 
enough  to  be  hurt  by  them,  the  help  of  this  evil  bird  is  also  implored 
at  a  short  time  of  the  year,  in  April  and  May,  and  he  has  his  song  and 
his  dance.  Also  the  owl,  a  bird  of  even  worse  omen,  has  for  the 
same  purpose  his  song  and  dance,  but  the  women  are  afraid  to  take 
part  in  this.  At  a  feast  they  may  select  the  songs  and  dances  that 
answer  to  the  necessities  of  the  season.  In  Yii-ma-ri  and  Rii-tu-bu-ri 
they  simply  mention  all  the  animals  by  name  with  a  few  character- 
istics of  each  one.  By  their  incantations  to  the  animals  they  also  desire 
to  make  them  multiply,  that  there  may  be  more  for  the  Indian  to  eat. 

In  the  winter,  when  they  have  plenty  to  eat,  they  forget  their 
God,  but  when  hard  and  anxious  times  come  in  March  and  following 
months,  then  there  is  much  dancing  and  sacrificing.  Their  God  comes 
down  and  tells  them  that  he  wants  sheep  and  beer.  Every  man  will 
have  to  kill  so  many,  perhaps  two  or  three,  and  make  beer.  And  the 
message  immediately  goes  all  over  the  Sierra,  and  they  all  comply 
with  it.  A  few  days  later  comes  another  message  from  God,  who 
has  come  down  at  another  place,  that  all  the  maize  will  dry  up  if  they 
don't  quickly  kill  a  cow  and  three  white  hens,  etc.  And  so  it  goes 
on  all  through  the  summer,  and  no  rain,  and  more  messages  of  more 
sacrifices  being  required.  The  Indian  argues  with  his  god  that  he  must 
not  be  so  greedy,  but  his  mouth  is  shut  with  the  question:  What 
would  you  say  if  I  asked  for  a  Tarahumari  to  be  killed  for  me?  At 
last,  however,  the  Indian  loses  patience.  "We  are  t^red  of  this  now, 
and  won't  give  any  more  animals,"  the  chief  in  Nararachic  told  me 
the  other  day  during  the  continued  drought  of  this  year. 

The  newly-born  babe  is  left  naked,  exposed  to  the  sun,  that  he 
may  know  his  new  son.  Three  days  old,  the  babe  is  "  cured  "  by  the 
medicine-man,  who  holds  it  in  his  arms  over  the  smoke  of  the  moun- 
tain cypress,  and  moves  it  toward  the  four  cardinal  points.  With  a 
fire-brand  he  makes  three  crosses  on  the  forehead,  if  a  boy,  or  four, 
if  a  girl. 

I  must  at  last  mention  the  worship  of  plants.  There  are  five  kinds 
of  plants,  apparently  species  of  mamillaria,  which  are  worshipped  by 
the  Tarahumari.  They  have  different  qualities,  the  most  pronounced 
of  them  being  to  drive  off  wizards,  diseases,  robbers  and  Apaches. 
One  brings  long  life,  which  all  the  Tarahumaris  want;  another  makes 
the  eyes  large  so  as  to  see  the  sorcerers.  The  most  noted  and  the  one 
most  in  use  is  Hi-ko-ri  Wa-na-me  (superior  Hikori),  which  is  be- 
sides used  to  make  an  intoxicating  drink,  and  as  a  remedy  for  fever 


CAVE-DWELLERS   OF  THE   SIERRA   MADRE.  Ill 

and  snake-bites;  it  also  heals  wounds.  The  Mexicans  call  it  Peyote. 
This  Hikori  and  the  other  Hikori  are  found  growing  in  the  ranges 
to  the  east  of  the  Mexican  Central  Railway,  and  the  Tarahumaris 
have  to  make  the  long  journey  to  get  them.  They  have  to  be  on 
the  spot  before  daylight,  to  be  present  when  the  Hikoris  rise, 
for,  according  to  the  Indians,  they  are  covered  up  at  night.  These 
plants  are  individuals  who  sing  and  talk,  and  Hi-lw-ri  IVa-na-me, 
the  intoxicating  one,  is  always  very  drunk.  The  Indians  are  careful  not 
to  hurt  the  plants,  and  each  kind  is  carried  home  separately,  or  they 
would  tight.  On  their  return  the  Hi-ko-ris  are  met  with  great  honors 
and  a  whole  night's  feast  and  dancing;  a  sheep  is  sacrificed  to  them, 
and  they  also  need  beer,  which  is  sprinkled  over  them.  Four  of  these 
plants  are  small,  but  there  is  a  tlfth,  a  larger  one,  called  Wa-lu-la 
Sce-li-a-mi  (meaning  the  great  authority),  which  wants  an  ox  (he  will 
eat  the  Indian  if  he  does  not  get  it),  and  which,  therefore,  scarcely 
any  one  can  atford  to  bring.  This  plant  never  dies.  The  sun  and  the 
moon  are  also  benefited  by  Hikoris  through  the  medicine-men,  and 
all  diseases  are  cured  by  them.  All  the  Hikoris  are  very  virtuous, 
and  they  have  to  be  kept  in  separate  rooms  by  themselves,  where  they 
can  see  nothing  bad.  Elaborate  ceremonies  are  in  use  at  the  feasts 
where  Hikori  is  drunk  by  the  people  to  keep  them  in  good  health. 
The  medicine-man  on  the  occasion  sings  and  makes  much  noise  with 
his  notched  stick,  which  typifies  the  strength  of  Hikori.  The 
women  and  men  of  the  medicine-man's  crew  dance,  but  alone  and  one 
at  a  time.  Total  abstinence  from  sexual  intercourse  for  three  days  be- 
fore and  three  days  after  is  required  of  the  medicine-man;  one  day  of 
the  other  participants.  The  name  of  the  women  who  take  part  is 
l^a-ko-ro  (stamina)  and  of  the  medicine  man  Tijaa-ja  (pistil). 
Each  Hi-ko-ri  is  worth  a  goat,  and  if  sold  the  buyer  has  to  give  it  a 
reception  similar  to  the  one  given  it  when  first  it  arrived  from  its 
country;  and  every  year  in  the  same  month  of  the  arrival  a  feast  must 
be  given  to  it.  After  four  years  the  plant  is  useless  and  is  buried  in 
the  corner  of  the  house  or  cave,  or  even  taken  back  to  its  country. 

The  names  of  the  Tarahumaris  are  taken  from  animals,  birds, 
reptiles,  fish  and  insects.  Other  names  are:  La-clm-mii-le  (Blood 
of  the  squirrel),  Om-ru-wi-si  (Hunger),  Si-ta-wa-cha-li  (Breech- 
cloth),  Te-bo-cbi  (Stonewall),  l^a-la-gae-cbu-lt  {0Tph2in),  Si-kait- 
le-a-mi  (Gummy  eye — Sp.,  laganoso),  Chu-Dii-wa-ki Snotty — Sp., 
moscoso),  and  for  women,  Cho-na-ca-li  (Darkness),  Ku-roii-su-li 
(Toasted  ear  of  corn),  etc. 


112        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  dead  are  buried  in  caves,  and  remain  for  one  year  wandering 
on  earth  in  the  shape  of  animals.  The  sorcerers  and  people  who  can- 
not pay  the  medicine-men  always  remain  so. 

The  Tarahumari  is  intelligent,  and  when  he  learns  to  read  and 
write,  which  is  extremely  rare,  his  ambition  runs  very  high,  to  be- 
come General,  Governor  of  the  State,  or  President  of  the  Republic. 
1  do  not  think  their  number  exceeds  30,000,  of  which  3,500  or  4,000 
are  pagans. 


ORIENTATION. 
BY  A.    L.  LEWIS,  F.C.A. 

THE  orientation  or  position  of  buildings  in  regard  to  the  points  of 
the  compass  is  a  subject  which  has  received  much  attention  of 
late;  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  sides  of  the  ancient 
Egyptian  pyramids  and  sacred  buildings  were  almost  always  placed  to- 
ward the  cardinal  points,  while  in  Chaldea  the  angles  of  the  most  ancient 
sacred  buildings  were  as  universally  placed  toward  those  points,  it  will 
become  evident  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  some  information  being 
gained  as  to  the  origin  of  other  civilizations  and  the  routes  by  which 
they  have  been  conveyed  by  a  study  of  the  orientation  of  buildings  and 
other  remains  in  ditferent  places. 

The  object  here,  however,  is  nor  so  much  to  draw  conclusions,  or 
even  to  state  facts,  as  to  relate  briefly  what  investigations  have  been 
made  into  the  question. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  papers  recently  published  have  been 
those  contributed  to  Nature  by  Prof.  Norman  Lockyer,  F.R.S.,  who 
has  endeavored  to  show  that  some  of  the  temples  of  Egypt  were  set  to 
face  the  sunrise  at  certain  periods  of  the  year,  and  were,  in  fact, 
observatories  by  means  of  which  the  priests  were  able  to  make  calcu- 
lations useful  for  material  as  well  as  for  religious  purposes;  and  that, 
as  the  point  of  sunrise  altered  in  the  course  of  cen  turies,  new  temples 
were  built  on  or  adjoining  the  older  sites,  but  in  a  different  line,  suita- 
ble to  the  altered  position  of  the  sunrise;  and  he  hopes  that  the  dates 
of  many  of  these  buildings,  and  of  the  kings  in  whose  reigns  they 
were  built,  may  ultimately  be  fixed  by  astronomical  data  obtained 
from  their  position.  In  addition  to  this,  Prof.  Norman  Lockyer  has 
found  that  many  of  the  Egyptian  temples  were  apparently  set  toward 
some  star  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  pole,  and  he  hopes  t  o  fix  dates 
for  these  buildings  also  by  astronomical  calculations.  In  his  last  com- 
munication,* Prof.  Norman  Lockyer  suggests  that  those  Egyptian 
cities  of  which  the  walls  trend  northeasterly  and  southwesterly, 
and  northwesterly  and  southeasterly,   as  at  On  and  Thebes,  were 


*Naiure,  May  18,  1893. 

113 


114        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  seat  of  an  early  solstitial  sun-worship,  associated  with  the  rise 
of  the  Nile  and  with  the  observance  of  a  star  rising  in  the  north, 
and  that  these  were  superseded  for  a  time  by  an  equinoctial  form 
of  sun-worship,  accompanied  by  the  worship  of  a  star  rising  in 
the  east,  brought  in  by  invaders,  probably  from  Chaldea,  who  built 
Memphis  and  other  cities,  the  walls  of  which  faced  the  cardinal  points, 
and  who  also  built  the  pyramids;  and  he  attributes  many  of  the  wars 
and  revolutions  of  ancient  Egypt  to  the  struggle  for  supremacy  and 
alternate  success  and  defeat  of  the  different  races  which  practiced  these 
various  forms  of  sun-worship.  Prof.  Norman  Lockyer  has  probably 
much  to  do  before  his  views  are  fully  accepted  by  Egyptologists,  but 
he  has  at  least  made  it  clear  that  anthropologists  cannot  safely  neglect 
the  study  of  orientation. 

In  Syria  and  Greece  many  of  the  temples  have  their  angles  rather 
than  their  sides  toward  the  cardinal  points.  This  may  be  because  their 
builders  worked  under  a  Chaldean  rather  than  under  an  Egyptian  in- 
fluence, or  it  may  be  because  both  in  Greece  and  Chaldea  the  sun  at 
the  summer  solstice  rises  further  to  the  north  of  east  than  in  Egypt, 
and  that  the  axes  of  the  buildings  have  been  set  to  the  rising  point  of 
the  sun  at  midsummer.  Prof.  Norman  Lockyer  considers  that  it  was 
because  the  floods  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  necessary,  like  those 
of  the  Nile,  for  agricultural  purposes,  took  place  at  a  different  time  of 
year  from  those  of  the  latter  river. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Penrose  has  been  investigating  the  bearings  of  Greek 
temples,  and  has  communicated  the  results  of  his  investigation  to  the 
Royal  Society.*  He  finds  that  some  of  the  older  temples  were  set  to- 
ward certain  stars,  and  altered  afterwards  as  the  rising  point  of  those 
stars  shifted,  and  he  gives  a  list  of  twenty-seven  temples  which  appear 
to  have  been  arranged  for  a  solstitial  solar  bearing,  as  against  seven 
not  so  arranged,  in  some  of  which  latter,  moreover,  the  absence  of 
such  arrangement  is  capable  of  explanation. 

The  orientation  of  mediaeval  churches  has  long  been  a  subject  of 
discussion  and  inquiry  amongst  architects  and  arch^ologists.  In 
France  and  Britain  the  axis  of  old  churches  is  almost  invariably, 
roughly  speaking,  east  and  west,  but  in  Italy  there  is  no  such  rule, 
and  the  churches  stand  in  all  positions,  so  that  this  form  of  orientation 
is  not  of  Roman,  but  of  British  or  Gallic  origin.  While,  however, 
the  churches  of  Britain  and  France  stand,  roughly  speaking,  east  and 


See  abstract  of  his  paper  in  Nature,  Alay  11,  1893. 


ORIENTATION.  115 

west,  there  are  many  variations,  mostly  in  a  northeasterly  direction, 
the  origin  and  purpose  of  which  have  been  the  cause  of  the  discussions 
1  have  referred  to.  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  chancel  was  so  placed 
that  the  sun  should  shine  in  at  the  east  window  on  rising  on  the  day 
dedicated  to  the  patron  saint  of  the  church,  but  this  theory  does  not 
seem  to  fit  all  the  facts,  even  after  allowing  for  the  ditticulty  of  ascer- 
taining to  whom  the  first  church  built  on  any  site  was  dedicated.  In 
any  case  the  custom  would  appear  to  be  associated  in  some  way  with 
sun-worship,  if  only  as  transforming  it  into  saint-worship  in  order  to 
suppress  it.  It  is  known  that  most  of  the  highest  hills  in  the  Grecian 
islands  were  dedicated  firstly  to  Helios  (the  sun)  and  afterwards,  as  the 
most  easy  transition,  to  St.  Elias;  and  it  was  in  pursuance  of  this  cus- 
tom of  dedicating  the  highest  hills  to  that  prophet  that  the  Russian  ad- 
herents of  the  Greek  Church  called  the  highest  point  of  Alaska  Mount 
St.  Elias. 

From  the  temples  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia  to  British  medieval 
churches  seems  a  long  step,  but  there  may  be  a  connecting  link,  and  1 
must,  in  conclusion,  briefly  notice  the  ancient  structures  which  may 
form  that  link,  and  with  which  I  personally  have  chiefly  concerned 
myself  during  the  last  thirty  years. 

The  stone  circles,  which  are  more  numerous  and  larger  in  Britain 
than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe,  have  apparently  been  used  in  some 
kind  of  observance  of  the  sun,  and  perhaps  of  the  stars.  In  Egypt  the 
plan  was  to  construct  a  number  of  chambers  communicating  with  each 
other  by  narrowing  doorways,  so  that  the  ray  from  the  sun  or  star 
should  at  the  right  time  shine  through  them  all  into  the  holy  of  holies. 
In  Britain  the  plan  appears  usually  to  have  been  to  place  a  stone  out- 
side the  circle,  as  at  Stonehenge,  or  to  place  the  circle  in  such  a  posi- 
tion with  regard  to  some  prominent  hill  that  the  sun  should  appear 
from  the  circle  to  rise  over  the  latter,  and  I  have  found  several  instances 
in  which  circles  were  so  placed,  sometimes  with  regard  to  single  sum- 
mits, and  sometimes  with  regard  to  groups  of  three  hills,  or  to  a  hill 
presenting  the  appearance  of  a  tripie  summit.  It  is  a  remarkable  co- 
incidence that  the  Akkadians  of  Chaldea  called  the  northeast  the  car- 
dinal point  of  the  mountains,  and  that  it  is  to  the  northeast  of  many 
of  the  British  circles  that  the  principal  hills  in  the  neighborhood  and 
particularly  the  triple  summits  are  found;  and  that  the  Akkadians 
called  the  southeast  the  funeral  point,  and  that  most  of  the  sepulchral 
stone  chambers  in  Britain  open  toward  some  point  between  south  and 
east.     If,  however,  these  similarities  suggest  a  community  of  thought 


116        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

between  the  Chaldeans  and  the  circle-builders  of  Britain,  it  must  be 
observed  that  there  are  other  circles  in  which  the  north  seems  to  have 
been  the  principal  point  regarded,  and  that  the  measurements  in  and 
between  some  of  these  are  multiples  of  an  Egyptian  or  royal  Persian 
cubit  of  25.1  inches.  Details  respecting  all  these  points  with  some 
illustrations  are  given  at  considerable  length  in  three  papers  which  I 
send  herewith  for  the  library  of  the  Department  of  Ethnology  and 
Archeology  of  the  Columbian  Exposition.  A  series  of  articles  which 
1  am  contributing  to  the  New  York  publication.  Science,  will  also  con- 
tain many  details  upon  this  subject.* 

In  saying  that  the  circles  may  be  a  connecting  link  between  the 
most  ancient  temples  and  the  mediaeval  churches,  1  need  hardly  point 
out  that  while  there  may  have  been  a  direct  connection  between  the 
circle-builders  and  the  chuich-builders,  none  has  yet  been  shown  be- 
tween the  circle-builders  and  the  architects  of  Egypt,  Babylonia  or 
Greece.  It  is  in  the  discovery  of  this  association  that  the  anthropol- 
ogist has  still  much  work  to  do,  in  which  a  study  of  the  questions 
connected  with  orientation  may  possibly  be  found  of  assistance  to 
him. 


*No.  1,  Abury,  published  March  24,  1893. 
No.  2,  Stonehenge,  published  May  19,  1893. 
No.  3,  Derbyshire  Circles,  published  July  14,  1893. 


THE  TUMULI  OF  HAMPSHIRE  AS  A  CENTRAL  GROUP  OF 
THE  TUMULI  OF  BRITAIN. 

BY  JOHN  S.  D.  PHENE,  LL.D.,  F.S.A. 
[Abstract.] 

THE  author  stated  that  to  speak  of  the  tumuli  of  Hampshire  of  to- 
day is  simply  to  speak  of  the  tumuli  which  still  exist  in  an  area 
around  the  great  historical  and,  as  correctly,  the  great  prehis- 
torical,  city  of  Winchester.  But  prehistoric  archeology  is  not  fettered 
by  the  boundaries  of  this  or  that  county,  and  in  order  to  comprehend 
the  subject,  "The  Tumuli  of  Hampshire,"  it  is  necessary  that  the 
tumuli  of  the  period,  perhaps  periods,  of  their  creation,  unlimited  by 
boundaries  of  shires  or  counties,  be  taken  into  account. 

There  was  clearly  design  in  the  placing  and  arranging  of  the 
tumuli,  which  spoke  to  the  wayfarer  in  no  uncertain  language  of  dis- 
tance, of  danger,  and  of  rest.  In  the  Isle  of  Wight  is  found  repeatedly 
a  solitary  tumulus  just  before  coming  to  an  abrupt  valley;  so  abrupt 
as  to  constitute  it  a  precipice,  or  at  least  a  descent  where  a  wayfarer 
might,  in  a  fog  or  mist,  soon  get  lost;  and  this,  in  more  instances 
than  one,  guarding  the  way  on  both  sides  of  the  danger.  In  like  man- 
ner, in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  Dorsetshire,  Berkshire,  Oxfordshire,  and 
the  ancient  routes  leading  to  and  from  such  localities,  are  certain  ter- 
raced works  surrounding  the  areas  occupied  by  special  tumuli,  which 
seem  to  imply  protection  of  sacred  precincts.  On  the  Downs  such  ter- 
raced works  are  almost  always  placed  from  the  northeast  to  the  north- 
west sides  of  the  hills,  and  they  may  have  been  for  warlike  defense,  as 
well  as  for  securing  sanctity.  The  most  carefully-guarded  of  these 
hills  are  surmounted  by  tumuli  arranged  in  studied  and  symmetrical 
forms,  and  these  forms  correspond  to  similarly-arranged  designs  found 
alike  in  America,  Greece,  Ireland,  Spain,  France,  and  other  countries. 
At  New  Grange,  Ireland,  and  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  are  serpent- 
mounds  similar  in  design,  or  intent,  to  that  of  Adams  County,  Ohio. 
In  the  Isle  of  Wight  the  position  of  the  serpent's  head  is  indicated  by 
three  mounds,  two  of  them  representing  the  extended  jaws,  with  the 
third  mound  between  them,  just  in  the  attitude  which,  were  the  object 

a  solid  and  continuous  serpent,  the  jaws  and  the  object  about  to  be  de- 
ar 


118         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS    OF   ANTHROPOLOGY, 

voured  would  take.  With  few  exceptions,  the  form  of  the  soHd  and 
continuous  serpent  was  that  which  pursued  the  sun's  course,  and 
which,  therefore,  may  be  described  as  the  Serpent  of  Life;  and  the  ser- 
pent formed  by  mounds,  which  were  invariably  sepulchral,  was  gener- 
ally from  north  to  south,  and  it  is,  therefore,  the  serpent  of  the  dead, 
or  the  Serpent  of  Death.  Interments  in  the  solid  and  continuous  ser- 
pent occur  only  in  two  parts,  each  of  which  was  evidently  a  place  of 
great  veneration:  the  head  of  the  serpent  probably  including  the 
circular  form  between  or  near  the  extended  jaws,  on  which  has  almost 
invariably  been  found  an  altar  of  worship,  and  the  highest  central 
curvature  of  the  body  perhaps  the  supposed  position  of  the  heart,  in 
which,  though  not  so  invariably,  have  been  found  objects  held  sacred 
by  the  depositors. 

The  author  then  referred  to  the  investigations  of  Mr.  Clutterbuck 
and  others,  showing  that  the  great  ancient  roads  of  Britain,  formerly 
generally  looked  on  as  Roman  roads,  pure  and  simple,  were  really 
pre-Roman  British  roads,  though  adopted,  and  altered  into  military 
highways,  by  the  Romans.     The  traffic  of  ancient  Britain  was  mainly 
in  metals,  and  the  metals  of  Cornwall  and  the  west,  including  Ireland, 
passed  along  the  great  road  leading  from  the  west  to  what  are  now  the 
Eastern  Counties.     The  line  of  tumuli  along  this  route  marked  the 
line  of  traffic;  sundry  bifurcations  occurred.     The  trade  to  the  Isle  of 
Wight  was  intermediate,  and  the  track  is  marked  by  tumuli,  which 
occur  only  in  a  narrow  line,  and  are  graves  of  the  traders.    There  is 
the  great  stone  of  exchange,  which  accords  with  that  in  Brittany.    The 
tumuli  stop  abruptly  at  this  point,  and,  after  clustering  in  symbolical 
forms  on  the  heights  to  the  west,  leave  no  sign  beyond  the  great  stone 
of  traffic  and  exchange,  at  Mottistone,  the  name  of  which  shows  that 
the  traffic  still  continued  in  the  time  of  the  Saxons.   The  great  strong- 
hold of  Hengist  Hill,  at  Hengistbury  Head,  near  Christchurch,  in  a 
direct  line  with  the  Needles  (Isle  of  Wight),  protected  a  connection  that 
must  have  existed  long  after  that  between  Swanage  and  the  Needles 
had  ceased;  and  the  impressive  tumuli  on  St.  Catherine's  Hill,  and  on 
Headon  Hill,  continued  the  line  of  tumuli  from  the  Needles  to  the 
Ridgway  by  the  great  east  and  west  road.     Most  of  those  from  Dor- 
setshire to  the  Needles,  which  form  a  continuous  line  to  Hengistbury, 
are  lost  by  encroachments  of  the  sea.    The  two  routes  joined  near 
Christchurch,  and  hence  the  strongly-fortified  fort  at  Hengist  Hill,  a 
word  which  occurs  also  in  Cornwall,  meaning  the  Hill  of  Horses. 
It  was  remarked,  finally,  that  the  vast  figures,  produced  by 


THE  TUMULI   OF  HAMPSHIRE,    ETC.  119 

incisions  in  the  chalk  hills  along  the  route  here  referred  to,  are  near 
groups  of  tumuli  evidently  belonging  to  the  same  period  and  people. 
Near  the  figure  at  Wilmington,  in  Sussex,  a  large  quantity  of  bronze 
and  flint  implements  were  found;  as  also  at  the  figure  on  the  Gogma- 
gog  Hills.  Similar  discoveries  have  been  made  at  Cerne  Abbas  in 
Dorsetshire.  The  White  Horse  in  Berkshire  appears  to  have  been  the 
turning-point  from  the  Ridgway  southward  to  the  great  marts  at 
Stonehenge,  which  means  the  "  horse-stone,"  and  the  south  and  south- 
eastern ports. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE  IMPLEMENTS. 

BY   W.   H.    HOLMES. 

AS  a  result  of  investigations  carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology  I  have  accumulated  a  large  body  of 
material  relating  to  the  origin,  manufacture  and  distribution 
of  primitive  forms  of  stone  implements.  Series  of  the  articles  col- 
lected have  been  placed  on  exhibition  in  the  Government  building, 
and  it  seems  appropriate  that  something  should  be  said  in  this  con- 
gress relating  to  them  and  to  their  bearing  upon  the  archasologic  ques- 
tions of  the  day. 

1  do  not,  however,  desire  to  deal  with  these  collections  specifi- 
cally, to  describe  them  or  review  their  history,  but  to  present  an 
analysis  of  the  group  of  phenomena  to  which  they  belong.  Thorough 
analysis  of  the  subject  matter  of  investigation  is  at  the  basis  of  its  in- 
telligent consideration.  Inferences  and  conclusions  based  on  a  given 
body  of  data  are  unsafe  if  all  the  available  elements  of  these  data  have 
not  been  properly  considered,  and  they  must  still  be  unsatisfactory  if 
through  necessity  or  oversight  any  of  the  elements  have  been  omitted. 
When  analysis  is  complete  classification  is  easy,  consideration  is 
simple,  and  results  are  safe,  even  if  not  final. 

The  very  general  incompleteness  and  obscurity  of  the  available 
phenomena  of  archseologic  science,  especially  in  the  earlier  stages,  are 
well  known,  and  students  find  it  necessary  to  go  over  and  over  again 
the  meager  and  heterogeneous  array  of  material  and  to  redouble  the 
precautions  against  misinterpretations  and  hasty  conclusions.  History 
is  difficult  to  read  correctly  even  when  the  peoples  and  the  whole 
range  of  their  cultural  creations  are  in  full  view.  Historical  investi- 
gations based  on  the  scattered  relics  of  a  vanished  people  must  be 
entered  upon  with  the  greatest  caution.  We  focus  all  the  light  of  the 
present  and  of  the  past  upon  the  minutest  fields  of  the  remote  past, 
striving  thus  to  read  more  clearly  the  obscure  characters  of  the  record. 
No  apology  is  necessary,  therefore,  for  assuming  to  present  here  a 
somewhat  exhaustive  analysis  of  that  particular  group  of  art  remains 
upon  which  we  must  mainly  depend  for  our  knowledge  of  primeval 
days. 

120 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE  IMPLEMENTS.  121 

OUTLINE  OF   STUDY. 

In  a  paper  read  at  Madison,  a  few  days  ago,  I  attempted  to  give 
flaked  stone  art  its  proper  place  among  the  shaping  arts,  to  trace  its 
history  from  the  earliest  beginnings  up  through  the  stages  that  mark 
the  progress  of  culture  evolution.  It  was  shown  that  the  flaking  of 
stone  was  a  primal  art  and  that  flaked  implements  are  probably  the 
most  ancient  and  elemental  existing  representatives  of  human  handi- 
craft. If  other  forms  preceded  them,  they  were  of  destructible  mate- 
rials, and  have  long  since  disappeared.  The  first  flake  was  probably 
made  by  casting  one  stone  against  another  without  premeditation  or 
design.  From  that  primal  step,  once  observed  and  designedly  utilized^, 
there  has  been  a  gradual  progress  by  infinitesimal  advances  in  tech- 
nique, through  the  stages  and  the  ages,  ending  in  the  manifold  and 
wonderful  works  of  the  present  day. 

In  the  study  of  flaked  stone  implements  the  first  necessary  step  is 
their  identification  as  implements  as  distinguished  from  the  many 
allied  forms,  natural  and  artificial,  that  have  no  claims  to  be  called 
such.  The  second  step  is  a  consideration  of  their  natural  history, 
which  embodies  two  distinct  lines  of  development,  one  of  the  indi- 
vidual from  its  inception  in  the  raw  material,  through  a  series  of 
steps  of  technical  progress,  to  the  finished  result;  the  other  of  the 
species  or  group  from  a  primal  culture  germ  through  countless  genera- 
tions of  implements;  with  these  goes  the  evolution  of  form  and  func- 
tion. The  third  step  consists  in  regarding  implements  as  historic  rec- 
ords, first,  with  reference  to  questions  of  time;  second,  with  regard  to 
questions  of  culture,  and,  third,  with  respect  to  the  history  of  peo- 
ples. A  grouping  of  these  topics  and  their  subdivisions,  approxi- 
mately as  treated  in  these  pages,  is  given  in  the  accompanying 
synopsis. 


122  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


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NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE   LMPLEMENTS.  123 

IDENTIFICATION  OF  IMPLEMENTS. 

Separation  from  analogous  forms.  The  simpler  implements  of 
primitive  peoples  are  often  natural  forms  of  stone,  or  natural  forms 
but  slightly  altered  by  human  agency.  These  must  be  distinguished 
where  possible  from  natural  forms  never  used  or  intended  to  be  used. 
Natural  processes  sometimes  act  in  such  ways  as  to  produce  effects 
closely  resembling  the  simpler  artificial  phenomena.  In  cases  where 
much  depends  on  a  single  specimen  of  simple  form  likely  to  be  adven- 
titiously duplicated,  discrimination  becomes  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance. 

Again,  flaked  implements  of  any  considerable  degree  of  elabora- 
tion pass  through  progressive  stages  of  specialization,  and  failures, 
necessarily  very  frequent  in  the  fracturing  of  stone,  take  place  at  all 
steps  of  advancement.  These  failures  resemble  the  finished  object 
more  or  less  closely  as  they  happen  to  have  been  rejected  nearer  to  or 
farther  from  the  final  shaping  stage.  Still  again,  these  abortive  forms 
are  liable  to  resemble  somewhat  closely  finished  tools  of  less  elaborate 
pattern  or  inferior  specialization,  belonging  to  other  times  or  intended 
for  distinct  uses.  Most  careful  discrimination  is  called  for  with  these 
possibilities  in  view. 

Still  another  point  must  be  considered.  The  operations  of  shap- 
ing certain  classes  of  tools  are  not  continuous,  part  of  the  work  being 
done  on  the  site  furnishing  the  raw  material,  and  part  on  finishing 
sites  at  more  or  lei;s  distant  points,  and  considerable  time  may  elapse 
between  the  beginning  stages  and  the  final  stages  of  the  work,  trans- 
portation and  storage  intervening.  Thus  many  specimens  represent- 
ing a  stage  of  manufacture  midway  between  the  first  and  last  shaping 
acts  find  their  way  into  collections.  These  have  generally  been  called 
implements.  They  are  really  unfinished  implements,  although  they 
may  not  have  even  a  reniote  resemblance  to  the  implement  in  its  final 
shape.  To  classify  and  use  in  historic  studies  any  of  these  pseudo- 
implements  as  actual  implements  is  to  introduce  error  and  pa\e  Ihe 
way  to  a  falsification  of  the  record. 

Positive  criteria  for  identification.  There  are  numerous  means 
of  identification  by  which  the  true  implement  may  be  separated  from 
the  false.  Chief  among  these  criteria  may  be  mentioned  (1)  degree 
of  elaboration,  (2)  indications  of  specialization,  (3)  signs  of  use,  (4) 
manner  of  occurrence  and  (5)  association  of  other  articles.  If  form 
is  highly  elaborated,  a  strong  presumption  is  created  that  the  imple- 


124         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ment  is  finished,  yet  this  evidence  must  not,  when  standing  alone,  be 
relied  upon  implicitly.  The  same  may  be  said  of  indications  of 
specialization,  which  generally  imply  adaptation  to  definite  use,  and 
hence  finish;  yet  appearances  of  specialization  are  in  many  cases 
false,  as  is  clearly  shown  by  the  study  of  quarry-shop  refuse,  where 
we  find  most  extraordinary  recurrent  shapes  resulting  from  accident, 
as,  for  example,  the  abortive  blade  with  a  high  hump  on  one  side,  or 
with  a  decided  bulb  near  one  end.  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  in  the 
vicinity  of  flaking-shops  specimens  of  flakes  and  rejects  that  have  been 
flaked  upon  the  brittle  edges  by  passing  feet  until  they  present  most 
deceptive  appearances  of  elaboration  and  even  of  specialization. 

Evidences  of  use  are  generally  reliable  indices  of  the  finished 
character  of  the  specimen  showing  them,  and  where  implement-like 
objects  possessing  slight  indications  of  elaboration  exhibit  in  repeated 
instances  corresponding  marks  of  application  to  manual  use,  the  im- 
plication is  very  strong  that  they  are  finished  implements.  Yet 
appearances  of  use  are  sometimes  deceptive,  as  where  decay  or  wear 
by  rolling  in  water  or  in  roadways  has  modified  the  sharp  conchoids 
of  original  fracture.  There  are,  no  doubt,  many  cases  in  which  spe- 
cimens rejected  by  the  original  flaker,  and  having  pronounced  reject 
characters,  are  taken  up  by  others  and  applied  to  uses  like  or  unlike 
those  contemplated  by  the  original  workman.  These  objects  thus 
become  actual  implements,  but,  being  sporadic,  they  do  not  consti- 
tute a  class  of  implements. 

The  occurrence  of  similarly  shaped  stones  in  numbers  on  dwell- 
ing sites  or  on  other  ordinary  sites  of  implement  utilization  is  gen- 
erally an  excellent  test  of  their  status;  yet  if  the  site  is  also  one  pro- 
ducing raw  material  subject  to  shaping  on  the  spot,  forms  often 
repeated  may  be  only  rejects. 

Implement-like  specimens  associated  with  evidence  of  work  done, 
as  in  ancient  quarries  and  mines,  or  with  refuse  of  shaping  operations 
in  which  they  may  have  been  employed,  as  on  sites  where  steatite 
vessels  were  rudely  roughed  out,  may  be  safely  identified  as  imple- 
ments. A  stone  without  artificial  shaping  or  without  signs  of  use,  if 
repeatedly  found  under  the  above  conditions,  may,  perhaps  with  risk, 
be  classed  as  an  implement  or  article  of  use.  A  combination  of  con- 
ditions of  shape,  surface  appearance  and  occurrence  may  serve  a  good 
purpose  in  identification. 

The  importance  of  full  identification  of  the  implement  as  such 
should  never  be  lost  sight  of.     It  is  the  first  vital  point  to  be  consid- 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED   STONE   LWPLEMENTS.  125 

ere  J  by  the  arch^ologist  who  wishes  to  consider  questions  of  compar- 
ative culture.  Questions  of  age  and  comparative  age  are  settled 
mainly  by  other  criteria. 

Having  identified  the  implement  as  such,  we  may  proceed  to 
study  it,  classify  it  as  to  material,  manufacture,  shape  and  use,  and 
apply  it  with  safety  to  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  anthropology. 

NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  IMPLEMENTS. 

Of  the  individual.  The  work  of  art  must  be  studied  pretty  much 
as  the  biologist  studies  the  living  creature.  Each  implement  has  its 
individual  history— its  inception,  development,  form  and  functions. 
The  naturalist  studies  the  creature  with  respect  to  its  physical  devel- 
opment, tracing  its  history  back  through  the  stages  of  growth  to  the 
embryonic  inception.  The  archaeologist  must  study  the  flaked  stone 
with  reference  to  its  origin,  the  morphologic  changes  that  take  place 
under  the  flaking  hammer  and  the  flaker  of  bone,  and  the  range  of  its 
functions  when  finished.     In  this^way  the  life-story  of  the  individual 

is  told. 

Of  the  species.  There  is  also  a  family  history  with  the  imple- 
ment as  with  the  living  creature.  It  has  an  evolution  that  begins  with 
the  first  stone  implement  shaped  by  the  hand  of  man  and  advances 
through  the  ages,  changing,  specializing  and  differentiating  until  the 
various  groups  of  forms,  the  species,  orders  and  families,  are  devel- 
oped. Each  species  of  implement  of  to-day  is  connected  by  an  infin- 
ite series  of  progressive  genetic  links  with  the  inceptive  germ  of  art, 
and  thus  is  related  to  all  art. 

Accompanying  the  immediate  phenomena  of  development  there 
are  varied  attendant  phenomena,  including  the  evolution  of  arts,  in- 
dustries and  practices  related  to  or  forming  a  part  of  the  history  of 
implements. 

MATERIAL  OF  IMPLEMENTS. 

The  nature  of  the  materials  available  to  the  nnplement-maker 
has  much  to  do  with  the  results  reached.  The  form-elaboration  of 
the  individual  object  and  the  development  of  the  species  of  imple- 
ment are  conditioned  by  the  shaping  qualities  of  the  stone.  The  pro- 
cesses employed  and  the  development  and  diflerentiation  of  these  pro- 
cesses are  likewise  governed  by  the  characteristics  of  the  materials. 
Each  implement  has  its  origin  in  a  more  or  less  inchoate  mass  of  the 
raw  material.  If  the  stone  is  massive  one  group  of  processes  is  em- 
ployed and  one  set  of  results  is  reached;  if  it  is  slaty  in  character  other 


126        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

processes  and  other  results  follow  its  use,  and  if  it  is  in  the  form  of 
water-worn  stones  or  concretionary  nodules,  still  other  processes  are 
employed  and  still  other  results  are  attained.  The  full  elaboration  of 
this  to  ic  will  not  be  entered  into  here. 

SHAPING  PROCESSES. 

The  history  of  implements,  both  as  individuals  and  as  species, 
must  be  studied  largely  through  the  channels  of  technique,  and  espe- 
cially through  the  processes  employed  in  manufacture.  There  are 
four  groups  of  processes  by  means  of  which  the  forms  of  implements 
are  developed,  namely,  fracturing,  battering,  abrading,  and  incising. 
Fracturing  appears  to  be  the  most  elemental  of  these,  and  was  prob- 
ably the  first  to  develop  into  importance  as  a  shaping  art.  With  the 
other  processes  I  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  present  study.  The  frac- 
turing operations  are  known  as  breaking,  splitting,  flaking,  chipping, 
spalling  and  knapping,  the  term  flaking  being  commonly  employed  to 
express  the  act  most  utilized  in  the  shaping  of  primitive  tools. 

The  flaking  processes  are  now  so  well  understood  in  a  general 
way  that  their  employment  in  art  may  be  studied  and  discussed  with- 
out danger  of  serious  error  or  misinterpretation.  There  is  in  detail, 
however,  great  variety  of  procedure,  and  all  these  details  can  never  be 
fully  known.  Each  people  develops  peculiarities  in  shaping-devices  and 
each  region  furnishes  varieties  of  shaped  results,  but  all  these  phen- 
omena come  within  well  defined  general  lines,  and  details  are  not  ab- 
solutely essential  to  a  full  understanding  of  the  subject.  Fracture  is 
accomplished  by  two  classes  of  processes,  distinguished  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  shaping  force  is  applied;  these  are  known  2.5  percus- 
sion 2.nd  pressure.  The  percussive  method  implies  (1)  the  use  of  a 
hard  and  heavy  implement  with  which  the  stone  to  be  shaped  is 
struck,  producing  direct  fracture  in  its  simplest  form,  and  (2)  the  use 
of  two  tools,  a  punch-like  implement,  set  upon  the  stone  at  the  point 
to  be  fractured,  and  a  heavy  tool  with  which  this  implement  is  struck, 
producing  fracture  indirectly.  This  process  has  been  mentioned  by  a 
number  of  observers,  but  is  apparently  not  well  understood  by  any 
one.  The  pressure  process  consists  in  the  use  of  a  tool  by  means  of 
which  pressure  is  applied  to  the  brittle  stone  in  such  a  way  as  to  frac- 
ture it. 

Many  of  the  simpler  flaked  tools  of  all  tribes  and  times  are 
shaped  exclusively  by  percussion,  and  in  the  earliest  times  flaking  by 
pressure  was  probably  unknown.     In  its  simplest  form  fracture  by 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE  IMPLEMENTS.  127 

percussion  is  accomplished  by  striking  with  the  hammer  a  given  point 
chosen  through  a  knowledge  of  the  fracturing  qualities  of  the  stone. 
In  this  work  a  convex-surfaced  hammer  is  required.  It  appears  that 
in  somewhat  advanced  stages  of  the  work  the  serrated  edges  of  the 
implement  shaped  were  probably  struck  across  the  projecting  serra- 
tions by  a  hammer-stone  having  a  wide,  flat  periphery,  a  number  of 
minute  flakes  being  removed  at  one  blow.  This  is  suggested  by  the 
occurrence  of  discoid  hammers  with  flat  peripheries  on  shop-sites  and 
is  contlrmed  by  experiment  with  them. 

Flaking  by  pressure  is  accomplished  in  a  number  of  ways  indi- 
cated by  observations  made  among  the  savage  tribes  of  both  conti- 
nents. Pointed  or  edged  implements  of  bone  are  generally  used,  but 
I  will  not  enter  into  details,  as  the  present  occasion  does  not  call  for  a 
fully  amplified  study  of  this  branch  of  the  subject. 

A  word  may  be  said  in  regard  to  t  he  relations  of  the  two  classes 
of  operations  in  their  practice.  Each  may  be  used  unaccompanied  by 
the  other,  the  one  making  large  or  rude  forms,  the  other  shaping 
forms  such  as  flakes  already  too  delicate  for  percussive  treatment. 
When  both  are  employed  on  the  same  specimen  percussive  processes 
take  the  initiative,  breaking  up  the  stone  and  reducing  the  pieces, 
when  large,  to  approximate  shape,  and  to  a  degree  of  tenuity  and  a 
relation  of  surfaces  such  as  to  make  the  other  methods  readily  oper- 
ative. Smaller  hammer-stones  are  used  as  the  forms  become  more 
delicate.  The  pressure  processes  are  the  elaborating  and  finishing 
processes,  taking  up  the  work  when  the  ruder  processes  are  compelled 
to  leave  off.  The  change  from  percussion  to  pressure  does  not  neces- 
sarily take  place  at  uniform  stages  of  the  work.  With  tough  stone 
the  hammer  must  go  farther  than  with  brittle  stone,  as  the  pressure 
tool  cannot  so  soon  be  made  effective. 

In  the  making  of  some  forms  of  implements  the  tlaking  opera- 
tions are  followed  by  pecking,  grinding  and  polishing.  The  tool 
shaped  by  flaking  may  have  its  edge  or  point  finished  by  grinding, 
and  many  of  the  implements  whose  shapes  are  blocked  out  by  flaking 
are  largely  or  entirely  worked  over  by  the  other  methods.  The  flaked 
tools  here  considered  are  limited  to  varieties  shaped  wholly  by  the 
fracturing  processes,  or  but  rarely  or  to  a  very  slight  extent  subjected 
to  modification  by  other  means. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL. 

The  simplest  possible  artificial  stone  tool  is  the  result  of  a  single 
blow.    Thus  a  stone  is  split  or  flaked,  yielding  one  (the  flake)  or  per- 


128        THE  INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

haps  two  (the  flake  and  piece  flaked  from)  edged  or  pointed  tools  of 
possibly  high  efficiency.  The  individual  history  in  such  cases  is  ex- 
ceedingly brief.  By  multiplying  the  blows  and  directing  them  intelli- 
gently, successive  degrees  of  elaboration  are  reached  and  the  higher 
forms  are  produced. 

Synoptic  statemeni.  To  understand  the  individual  morphology  of 
flaked  stone  implements  it  is  only  necessary  to  examine  type  examples 
of  the  several  well-defined  groups,  and  these  may  be  arranged  in  tab- 
ular form  for  comparative  study,  as  in  Diagram  I.  The  flaked  imple- 
ments of  the  entire  world  would  make  a  long  list,  and  an  attempt  to 
present  all  varieties  in  this  place  would  greatly  complicate  the  study. 
Most  of  the  more  important  truths  can  be  brought  out  by  considering 
the  flaked  products  of  a  limited  region,  and  1  have  chosen  that  region 
with  which  I  am  just  now  particularly  familiar,  the  Chesapeake- Poto- 
mac tide-water  country.  The  synoptic  chart  includes  examples  from 
nine  leading  groups  of  implements,  extending  from  the  most  simple  to 
the  most  complex  forms.  They  are  placed  as  nearly  as  may  be  in  the 
order  of  increasing  complexity  or  elaboration  and  are  as  follows:  The 
unnotched  ax,  a  sharpened  bowlder;  the  notched  ax,  a  sharpened 
bowlder;  the  pick,  a  pointed  and  notched  tool  used  in  rough-shaping 
soapstone;  the  chisel,  used  in  carving  soapstone;  the  knife,  a  blade 
notched  or  plain;  the  scraper,  a  blade  with  beveled  edge;  the  drill 
point,  a  blade  with  slender  shaft;  the  spear  point  and  the  arrow  point. 

Other  flaked  articles  are  found  in  this  region,  but  they  are  spo- 
radic or  do  not  occur  as  well  developed  groups  and  need  not  be  consid- 
ered here.  Those  selected  have  the  advantage  of  derivation  from  a 
single  form  of  material,  the  bowlder,  the  analogies  of  morphology  and 
the  variations  ol  specialization  being  more  easily  observed  than  where 
varied  materials  and  forms  of  materials  are  used. 

As  the  diagrammatic  statement  expresses  clearly  the  main  features 
of  morphology  and  comparative  morphology,  the  various  points  need 
be  but  briefly  sketched.  Beginning  at  the  base  with  the  bowlder,  the 
form  of  material  most  used  in  this  region,  we  pass  up  through  the 
gradually  expanding  series  to  the  arrow-point,  the  most  highly  special- 
ized form.  The  relations  of  the  finished  implements,  placed  at  the 
right,  to  the  successive  steps  of  their  morphology,  represented  by  re- 
jected forms  filling  up  the  triangle,  and  to  the  bowlders  in  which  they 
have  their  origin,  are  apparent  at  a  glance.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
course  of  procedure  in  the  simplest  shapes  is  repeated  more  or  less 
closely  in  the  earlier  steps  of  the  more  elaborate  shapes,  and  that  the 


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NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE  IMPLEMENTS.  129 

divergence  of  specialization  takes  place  toward  the  end  of  the  process 
in  each  case,  usually  not  covering  more  than  one  step  (as  here  formu- 
lated) in  the  simpler  forms,  and  not  more  than  three  in  the  higher 
forms.  Analogies  between  the  rejects,  especially  in  the  earlier  por- 
tions of  the  various  lines,  are  thus  very  close.  The  tlnished  imple- 
ment in  a  given  case,  if  not  definitely  specialized,  may  not  be  distin- 
guishable from  rejects  of  corresponding  elaboration  belonging  to 
the  more  elaborate  implements  above.  Later  on  examples  will 
be  given  illustrating  the  dangers  of  imperfect  identification  and 
careless  placing  and  use  of  doubtful  forms  by  students  of  prehistoric 
archaeology. 

I  may  call  attention  to  two  other  points  brought  out  by  the  dia- 
gram. First,  that  the  five  more  highly  specialized  forms  pass  through 
the  percussion  stage  to  be  further  elaborated  and  finished  by  the  press- 
ure processes,  while  the  four  ruder  implements  are  finished  by  per- 
cussive methods  alone.  Second,  that  the  former  are  all  based  on  the 
leaf-shaped  blade  as  a  blank  form  through  which  they  pass  at  about 
the  point  of  transition  from  the  percussive  to  the  pressure  methods, 
and  that  the  latter,  although  approaching  that  form,  never  attain  it. 
The  former  are  of  both  quarry  and  random  origin ;  the  latter  are,  so 
far  as  I  have  observed,  of  random  origin  only,  having  been  made 
from  scattered  pieces  or  masses  of  material. 

It  is  worthy  of  especial  notice  that  nearly  all  varieties  of  imple- 
ments produced  and  used  in  great  numbers  by  the  aborigines  are 
largely  of  the  leaf-blade  genesis,  and  it  follows  that  the  production  of 
these  blades  was  a  most  important  function  of  the  worker  in  stone. 
The  great  demand  for  projectiles,  knives,  drills  and  scrapers,  led  to 
the  systematic  quarrying  of  flakable  stone  and  gave  character  to  the 
work  done  in  these  quarries  and  the  roughing-out  shops  with  which 
they  are  always  associated.  A  study  of  these  quarries  and  shops  has 
afforded  a  key  to  the  history  of  the  blade  and  thus  to  the  first  step  in 
the  morphology  of  all  tools  of  leaf-blade  genesis. 

The  blades  from  which  these  five  classes  of  implements  are  made 
are  largely  of  quarry-shop  production,  and  that  part  of  the  diagram 
indicated  by  ^A,  3,  C,  D,  is  made  up  entirely  of  rejected  forms,  and 
these,  together  with  the  successful  blades  placed  next  at  the  right,  rep- 
resent and  define  the  ordinary  range  of  quarry-shop  work.  Operations 
of  like  character  were  carried  on,  however,  wherever  the  raw  material, 
whether  in  quantities  or  in  scattered  pieces,  was  obtained  and  worked. 
The  elaboration  of  the  blade  into  the  various  specialized  forms  is  illus- 


130        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

trated  by  the  rejects  included  in  the  space  between  the  blades  and  the 
finished  implements  at  the  end  of  the  lines. 

It  may  be  noted  that  all  implements  of  leaf-blade  genesis, — the 
arrow-point,  spear-point,  drill,  scraper,  knife,  etc.,— do  not  necessarily 
pass  through  the  full  range  of  operations  here  indicated.  Many  of  the 
smaller  specimens  are  elaborated  from  flakes  and  splinters  so  approx- 
imate in  shape  that  they  do  not  require  elaboration  by  percussion,  or 
so  delicate  that  percussion  could  not  be  employed.  Flaking  by  press- 
ure is  alone  required,  and  an  auxiliary  diagram  is  added  to  Diagram 
I.  that  these  forms  may  be  properly  placed  in  the  scheme  of  morphol- 
ogy. 

It  may  be  further  noted  here  that  all  implements  of  a  given  class 

are  not  necessarily  of  one  genesis  or  of  like  form  and  appearance. 
Simple  unmodified  flakes  with  sharp  edges  are  utilized  as  knives  form- 
ing a  class  distinct  fiom  the  ordinary  leaf-blade  knife.  Heavy  flakes 
unmodified  are  used  as  scrapers  or  are  rounded  and  beveled  at  one  end 
for  scraping,  giving  a  type  of  tool  distinct  from  that  shaped  from  the 
leaf-like  blade. 

Of  leaf-blade  genesis  other  regions  furnish  groups  of  implements 
not  found  in  the  Chesapeake  region.  In  the  middle  Mississippi  prov- 
ince there  is  a  large  and  important  group  of  agricultural  implements, 
blades  either  unmodified  or  variously  specialized  to  facilitate  hafting. 
There  are  also  in  this  district  some  not  very  well-defined  groups  of 
fanciful  flaked  forms  and  a  group  of  animal  shapes  that  have 
their  development,  as  a  rule,  through  the  leaf-blade  blank.  The  shap- 
ing of  fanciful  forms  was  often  suggested  and  encouraged  on  shop- 
sites  by  the  occurrence  of  accidental  flaked  forms  of  peculiar  shape. 

Morphology  of  the  spear-point.  The  complete  plan  of  develop- 
ment of  leaf -blade  groups  of  implements  with  attendant  phenomena 
may  be  illustrated  to  advantage  by  a  single  example  taken  from  the 
more  fully  elaborated  forms,  as,  for  example,  the  spear-point.  This  is 
a  highly  specialized  implement  of  highly  differentiated  use.  In  Dia- 
gram II.  I  present  two  examples  illustrating  its  development  from  two 
distinct  forms  of  stone,  one  the  irregular,  inchoate  mass  broken  from 
the  body  of  rock  in  place,  the  other  of  the  rounded  form  common  to 
the  bowlder  and  nodule. 

The  order  of  morphologic  change  is  the  same  in  both  cases. 
With  a  hammer-stone  of  suitable  size  the  original  mass  was  attacked, 
blows  being  delivered  according  to  the  judgment  and  desires  of  the 
workman  so  that  portions  were  successively  flaked  away;  the  form 


NATURAL  HISTORY   OF  FLAKED  STONE   LMPLEMENTS.  l3l 

being  gradually  reduced  to  that  of  a  leaf-shaped  blade.  When  the 
hammer-stone  had  developed  the  blade  to  a  certain  degree  of  tenuity 
its  functions  were  ended.  It  was  not  capable  of  trimming  and  notch- 
ing the  specimen,  and  the  work  was  taken  up  by  the  more  delicate 
manual  processes  known  as  flaking  by  pressure. 

This  history  is  epitomized  in  the  tlgure,  which  gives  expression 
to  a  number  of  distinct  and  important  groups  of  facts.  The  distinc- 
tion between  the  use  of  material  derived  from  the  inchoate  mass  of 
rock  and  that  having  the  rounded  form  of  bowlders,  pebbles  and  con- 
cretionary nodules  is  indicated.  The  general  trend  and  character  of 
the  morphology  is  the  same  in  both  cases,  and  the  results,  the  finished 
points,  are  not  distinguishable. 

Rejects  or  "  not  implements  "  extend  from  the  second  to  next  to 
the  last  member  of  the  series,  those  up  to  the  blade  or  cache  form 
being  the  quarry-shop  rejects,  and  those  beyond  that  stage  rejects 
found  on  sites  of  specialization.  Rejection  was  more  common  in  the 
earlier  than  in  the  later  stages  of  shaping,  as  percussion  is  more  liable 
to  produce  deformation  or  undesirable  fracture  than  pressure;  still 
breakage  was  frequent  under  the  flaking  point.  The  practice  of  re- 
moving a  few  flakes  to  test  the  material  resulted  in  adding  much  to 
rejectage  in  early  stages. 

The  data  for  a  large  part  of  this  diagram  were  obtained  from  a 
study  of  the  quarry-shops,  where  alone  the  operations  of  shaping  can 
be  studied  to  advantage,  the  work  there  having  been  confined  almost 
exclusively  to  roughing  out  the  blank  blades.  The  exact  point  in  the 
series  at  which  percussion  left  otT  and  pressure  took  up  the  work  cannot 
be  determined  with  exactness;  it  probably  varied  with  the  material,  and 
perhaps  with  the  worker  or  the  occasion.  The  change  occurred  at 
or  beyond  the  close  of  the  quarry  work.  The  quarry  work  naturally 
ended  and  transportation  took  place  when  the  percussive  method  had 
completed  the  thin  blade.  The  "  not  transported  "  forms  are  those 
left  in  the  quarry-shops,  and  the  "transported"  include  the  thin  blades 
and  all  the  forms  beyond  that  stage. 

Transportation.  An  interesting  episode  in  the  history  of  imple- 
ments produced  in  numbers  in  localities  remote  from  the  sites  of  util- 
ization is  their  transportation.  As  long  as  implements  were  mere 
random  products  made  where  scattered  material  was  found  their  trans- 
portation was  a  matter  of  little  consequence,  but  when  demand  grew 
and  manufacture  became  an  industry  requiring  the  opening  of  great 
quarries  aii^  the  working  of  extensive  factories,  the  carrying  industry 


l32        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

developed  to  very  considerable  importance.  It  was  customary,  no 
doubt,  before  the  white  man's  materials  and  implements  were  intro- 
duced, for  families  or  groups  of  families  —  possibly  whole  tribes  —  to 
make  long  journeys  to  the  great  flint  quarries  and  to  spend  weeks  or 
months  quarrying  the  stone  and  shaping  the  tools.  This  is  illustrated 
to-day  of  the  Yankton  Sioux,  who,  in  large  parties,  journey  two  hun- 
dred miles  each  summer  to  work  the  red  pipestone  quarries  and  to 
make  pipes  or  prepare  the  stone  for  trade. 

A  study  of  the  great  flint  quarries  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
the  shaping  operations  in  them  and  about  them  consisted  almost 
wholly  in  roughing  out  leaf-shaped  blades— the  blank  forms  for  many 
varieties  of  tools.  At  the  end  of  the  working  season  the  stock  of 
blades  produced,  together  with  such  flakes  and  masses  as  were  desired, 
were  packed  up  and  carried  away,  largely,  no  doubt,  on  the  backs  of 
the  women. 

Storage;  the  Cache.  Following  transportation  came  storage. 
The  discovery  of  hoards  of  flaked  stones,  mainly  of  blade-like  form, 
has  been  a  matter  of  much  notoriety  for  many  years.  So  uniform  is 
the  character  of  these  objects  that  the  name  "cache  blades"  or 
"  cache  implements  "  has  become  attached  to  them.  The  true  status 
of  the  great  body  of  these  objects  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  dis- 
covery that  the  almost  exclusive  shaped  product  of  the  quarries  and 
great  shops  is  a  blade  of  identical  character.  As  a  rule,  therefore,  the 
cache  "  implement  "  is  the  transported  and  stored  product  of  the  great 
shops— the  blank  form  intended  for  further  distribution  and  for  final 
shaping  into  the  various  tools  of  leaf-blade  genesis.  Although  cache 
forms  are  mainly  blades,  hoards  of  very  rude  shapes  are  sometimes 
found,  for  transportation  in  numbers  may  take  place  at  any  stage  in 
the  shaping  process.  Flakes,  fragments  and  masses  of  stone  were  at 
times  gathered  and  transported  in  numbers  and  were  thus  subject  to 
caching;  and  finished  implements  comprising  one  or  more  varieties 
may  be  assembled,  representing  the  property  of  some  thrifty  hunter  or 
the  stock  in  trade  of  an  aboriginal  speculator.  The  manner  of  storage 
was  usually  in  compact  clusters  or  piles,  the  pieces  being  laid  up  in 
neat  order  and  covered  with  earth.  In  cases  a  mound  of  earth  was 
thrown  up  over  them,  as  in  the  noted  instance  near  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
where  nearly  eight  thousand  discoid  blades  were  obtained  from  a  single 

mound. 

Specialiiation.     Following  transportation  and  storage  came  trade 
and  specialization.     Dissemination  was  no  doubt  by  the  ordinary 


NATURAL   HISTORY   OF  FLAKED  STONE   LWPLEMENTS.  l33 

channels  well  known  to  students  of  the  native  tribes.  Specialization 
of  the  blank  forms— the  blades,  flakes  and  masses— took  place  proba- 
bly pretty  much  as  necessity  was  felt  for  the  implements.  Perhaps  in 
cases  the  workmen,  often  old  and  skilled  hands,  shaped  and  finished 
large  numbers  of  those  forms  most  used,  ready  to  be  hafted  or  shafted 
for  immediate  use.  Preceding  the  going  forth  of  a  war  party,  for  ex- 
ample, much  activity  would  be  shown.  A  party  of  one  hundred  men 
would  require  perhaps  not  less  than  twenty-five  hundred  or  three 
thousand  arrow  and  spear-points  for  fair  equipment;  and  a  notion  of 
the  needs  that  led  to  such  undertakings  as  the  opening  and  working  of 
great  quarries  can  be  formed  when  it  is  remembered  that  with  the 
great  nations  a  thousand  or  more  warriors  had  to  be  equipped  and  kept 
on  a  war  footing  from  year  to  year  and  generation  to  generation. 

Specialization  takes  varied  directions,  as  in  producing  an  edge,  a 
point,  a  means  of  hafting,  a  sawing  edge,  a  beveled  edge,  a  slender 
shaft,  a  curved  blade,  a  gouge-shaped  edge,  etc.  In  Diagram  I.  I  have 
drawn  a  dotted  line  which  indicates  approximately  where  the  work 
of  specialization  began.  The  unnotched  ax  is  specialized  at  the  first 
step;  the  specialization  being  the  result  on  the  average  of  half  a  dozen 
blows  removing  as  many  flakes  and  leaving  an  irregular  cutting  edge. 
The  first  step  in  the  shaping  of  the  notched  ax  in  the  line  above  gives 
precisely  the  same  result ;  as  does  also  the  first  step  in  each  case  in  the 
remainder  of  the  series.  The  notched  ax  is  specialized  in  the  second 
step  by  breaking  two  notches  in  the  sides.  In  the  shaping  of  the  pick 
there  are  two  steps  in  specialization:  first,  the  flaking  of  a  rude  point, 
and,  second,  the  making  of  notches  or  a  rude  groove  to  facilitate  haft- 
ing. The  flaking  of  the  chisel  is  more  complete  than  in  the  pick  and 
approaches  closely  that  of  the  knife  blade,  from  which  form  it  diflers 
in  having  greater  thickness.  The  term  knife  is  here  applied  to  the  un- 
specialized  blade  only,  because  it  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  separate 
it,  when  specialized  for  hafting,  from  the  other  highly  elaborated 
forms.  This  and  other  like  shortcomings  of  the  diagram  will  not  de- 
tract from  its  value  in  expressing  the  general  truths  of  morphology. 

The  second  and  third  steps  in  shaping  the  chisel  are  repeated  in 
all  the  series  above.  The  second,  third  and  fourth  steps  in  the  knife 
blade  are  repeated  in  like  manner  in  the  remainder  of  the  series,  and 
so  on.  It  is  seen  that  the  length  of  the  series  indicates  approximately 
the  degree  of  elaboration.  The  arrow-head  has  a  greater  variety  of 
shapes,  and,  therefore,  passes  through  more  steps  of  morphology  than 
the  spear-point;  the  spear-point  has  the  same  relation  with  the  next  in- 


l34        THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ferior  form,  and  so  on  down  the  scale.     The  steps  of  the  series  could 
be  increased  to  the  full  number  of  flakes  removed  in  each  case. 

In  the  supplementary  diagram  flakes  take  the  place  occupied  by 
the  blades  in  the  main  diagram.  They  are  placed  in  the  percussion 
column  directly  under  the  blades,  their  entire  elaboration  being  in  the 
pressure  column  and  ranking  as  specialization,  although  the  first  step 
in  each  case  was  probably  that  of  reducing  the  flake  to  a  leaf-like  outline. 
As  to  the  details  of  specializing  processes  and  the  final  forms  produced 
by  them  nothing  need  be  said  in  this  place. 

Function.  The  function  and  manner  of  use  of  flaked  implements, 
matters  of  much  importance  in  their  history,  must  be  passed  over  here 
for  lack  of  space  for  their  consideration. 

INCIDENTS   OF   MORPHOLOGY. 

Now,  beside  the  products  of  shaping  operations  in  their  varied 
forms,  finished  and  unfinished,  there  are  divers  accompanying  phe- 
nomena which  may  be  briefly  referred  to  in  this  place.  These  phe- 
nomena are  to  be  observed  mainly  on  the  shop-sites  where  the  shaping 
was  carried  on,  the  shops  themselves,  where  extensively  used,  being 
among  the  most  striking  features  connected  with  the  work. 

Flakage.  Fracture  by  percussion  produces  fragments,  flakes  and 
chips  broken  from  the  specimen  shaped  and  cast  aside  as  waste.  Press- 
ure, employed  in  the  more  delicate  manipulations,  also  gives  rise  to  like 
results  of  smaller  size,  and  generally  quite  minute.  The  former  are 
found  largely  on  the  great  shop-sites  where  the  incipient  tools  were  re- 
duced to  approximate  size  and  shape,  and  the  latter  on  sites  where 
trimming  and  specializing  were  carried  on.  By  a  study  of  tlakage 
much  is  learned  of  the  nature  of  the  work  done. 

Breakage.  Breakage  of  the  incipient  forms,  under  the  blows  of 
the  hammer  or  the  spasmodic  application  of  the  pressure  tool,  takes 
place  at  all  stages  of  manufacture,  and  the  pieces,  broken  at  divers 
angles  and  shattered  in  numberless  ways,  constitute  a  large  portion  of 
the  refuse  of  the  shops  and,  rightly  studied,  afford  an  excellent  key  to 
the  nature  of  the  shaping  operations,  the  progress  of  morphology  and 
the  nature  of  the  final  product.  Where  operations  were  extensive  every 
form  made  is  represented  by  the  pieces  which  may  be  picked  up  and 
joined  again.  One  variety  of  fragment  is  liable  to  deceive  the  unwary. 
When  an  incipient  implement  has  been  flaked  all  around  it  sometimes 
splits  in  such  a  way  that  one  or  both  of  the  pieces  appear  to  have 
been  themselves  the  subject  of  the  shaping  operations. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE  IMPLEMENTS.  l35 

%ejectage.  The  reject  proper  is  a  failure  resulting  not  from  pro- 
nounced breakage,  but  from  abortive  shaping  operations,  which 
result  in  the  development  of  some  fatal  eccentricity  of  contour. 
It  is  typified  most  fully  by  the  turtleback,  a  form  characterized 
by  a  thick  body  and  having  conchoid  facets  resulting  from  lack  of 
carrying  power  in  the  flake-producing  impact.  In  America  by  far  the 
greater  portion  of  flaked  implements  are  flat  to  thinness,  and  usually 
somewhat  leaf-shaped  in  outline,  or  are  produced  by  elaborations  of  a 
leaf-shaped  outline,  as  the  spear-point,  arrow-point  and  drill.  In  mak- 
ing these  forms  all  that  could  not  be  reduced  readily  to  the  required 
degree  of  tenuity  were  either  broken  in  the  attempt  to  reduce  them  or 
became  hopelessly  deformed  under  repeated  abortive  blows.  The 
thick-bodied  flaked  stone  of  approximately  leaf-shaped  outline  is  the 
reject/)^/-  excellence,  and  probably  outnumbers  the  successful  forms — 
the  implements  produced— two  to  one.  It  is  widely  distributed,  oc- 
curring in  greatest  numbers  on  or  near  the  sites  yielding  the  raw  mate- 
rial and  especially,  in  countless  numbers,  in  the  shops  surrounding  the 
great  quarries  of  quartzite,  flint,  jasper,  chert,  novaculite,  argillite  and 
rhyolite.  It  happened  in  some  cases  that  the  raw  material  or  the  more 
rudely  outlined  forms  were  carried  away  from  the  quarries  to  be  shaped 
at  leisure  on  distant  sites;  turtlebacks  are,  therefore,  occasionally  found 
widely  scattered,  but  in  the  nature  of  things  this  is  exceptional.  Econ- 
omy of  labor  in  transportation  would  require  that  the  material  be 
tested  for  workability,  and  reduced  as  much  as  possible  in  weight  be- 
fore removal  began. 

All  of  our  American  flaked  tools  are,  however,  not  thin  and 
blade-like  in  outline;  picks,  chisels,  celts,  adzes,  hatchets  and  axes 
are  thick  intentionally,  and  the  rejects  of  their  manufacture  and  they 
themselves  should  not  be  confused  with  rejects  of  the  thin  forms. 
Such  tools  were,  however,  seldom  made  in  great  numbers,  and  in 
many  sections  are  rare  or  wanting,  and,  so  far  as  the  great  quarries 
already  studied  are  concerned,  they  constitute  no  considerable  feature. 
When  found  scattered  over  the  fields  such  forms  cannot  readily  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  refuse  of  blade-making,  save  where  specialization 
has  taken  place,  use  has  left  its  mark,  or  distribution  or  association 
affords  clues.  Rejectage  as  well  as  breakage  varies  with  each  imple- 
ment, with  the  variety  of  implement  and  with  the  material. 

Nuclei.  Another  usual  consequent  of  manufacture,  especially 
where  the  finer  qualities  of  flint  and  the  glassy  rocks  were  worked,  are 
the  nuclei  or  cores  left  after  the  removal  of  successive  flakes  for 


136        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

knives  or  for  subsequent  shaping.  Generally  these  objects  are  readily 
distinguished  from  other  classes  of  refuse  by  the  number  and  uni- 
formity of  their  facets,  which  give  a  fluted  effect. 

Hammer-stones.  Associated  with  the  refuse  of  shaping  are  the 
various  tools  utilized  in  the  work.  These  are  mainly  hammers  of 
stone,  globular  or  discoidal  in  shape  and  bearing  marks  of  the  manner 
of  their  use.  It  often  happens  that  the  periphery  of  the  disk  is  so 
worn  as  to  indicate  clearly  whether  the  workman  was  right  or  left- 
handed.  In  size  there  is  wide  range.  The  larger  specimens,  used  in 
breaking  up  the  stone  where  massive,  are  as  much  as  ten  inches  in 
diameter.  The  smaller,  used  in  finishing  the  more  delicate  blades,  are 
not  above  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  hammers  are  usually  of  heavy, 
compact  rock,  and  are  often  bowlders  and  pebbles  from  outcrops  or 
stream  beds  near  the  quarries;  not  infrequently  they  were  re-shaped 
by  flaking. 

EVOLUTION  OF  SPECIES. 

That  nothing  springs  into  being  without  cause  and  that  no  highly- 
developed  form  comes  into  existence  without  predecessors  and  ances- 
try, may  be  as  safely  maintained  of  art  as  of  nature.  The  existence  of 
a  highly-specialized  group  of  implements  implies  a  long  line  of  ante- 
cedent groups  reaching  back  to  an  original  primal  form  having  no 
such  phenomena  as  variation  or  specialization.  This  necessary  relation 
of  the  last  to  a  first  and  the  order  of  procession  from  the  one  to  the 
other  may  be  readily  expressed  in  diagrammatic  form.  1  present  two 
diagrams,  the  first  illustrating  the  evolution  of  a  single  species  of  im- 
plement with  phenomena  of  shaping  at  successive  steps  of  progress, 
and  the  other  indicating  the  morphologies  of  specialization  and  differ- 
entiation of  the  whole  group  of  species.  Assuming  that  in  Diagram 
III.  we  have  at  the  base  A  the  inceptive  point  of  the  shaping  arts,  or, 
better,  the  first  step  in  the  manipulation  of  stone,  and  that  the  series 
5,  C,  at  the  top,  represents  the  development  of  an  individual,— the 
arrow-head,— we  may  fill  up  the  interval  between  by  any  number  of 
developmental  series  representing  successive  steps  in  the  history  of  the 
arrow-head  species.  The  intervals  between  the  lines  may  be  regarded 
as  representing  the  period  of  time  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of 
a  step  in  differentiation  and  specialization.  The  number  of  steps  may 
be  large  or  small,  but  I  have  introduced  about  as  many  as  there  are 
varieties  of  flaked  implements  in  use  by  an  ordinary  community  of 
people.  We  can  have  little  definite  knowledge  of  the  shape  of  the  an- 
cestral implement  or  of  its  particular  functions  at  any  given  step  of 


I 


Abt  imple/ne/its 


It 


Perciissio/i  processes 

fn\     ^    ^     iSh 


Pressure 


processes 


Quarry  rejects, 
not  transported. 


Post-quarry  forms, 
transported. 


DIAGRAM   II.— Morphology  of  the  Spear  Potnt. 


I?eveto/)me/?t  of  /ncf/ricliml  of /Hottest  type 

^  M,    AAA 


A 


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i...i 


I 

I 


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f 
I, 


SI 


,f 


/ 


vv^ 


^' 


Eftr/if\t  ///tiffftf/t  ft//fi 


/  //s/ift/jf'i^  tiowlder 


DIAGRAM  III.— Steps  in  the  Evoi^ution  of  Species. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  FLAKED  STONE  LWPLEMENTS.  l37 

progress.  I,  therefore,  leave  indefinite  the  final  shapes  at  the  right. 
The  arrow  may  include  in  its  ancestry  one  or  all  of  the  species  of 
flaked  implements.  It  may  have  had  a  mixed  parentage,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, through  a  wood  or  bone  tool  as  to  hafting  features,  and  through 
the  stone  knife  as  to  its  incisive  shape.  1  have  not  ventured  to  give 
any  of  the  ancestral  steps  or  implement  groups  a  name,  but  if  the 
arrow  is  the  outcome  of  the  less  simple  devices  in  stone  preceding  it, 
the  order  of  progress  would  repeat  somewhat  closely  that  indicated  in 
Diagram  1.,  the  order  being  that  of  increasing  complexity. 

The  manner  here  adopted  of  representing  the  evolution  of  a 
group  or  species  of  implements  by  a  succession  of  manipulative  series 
is  intended  to  aid  in  a  comparative  study  of  the  rejected  forms,  a 
matter  of  much  importance  in  the  discussion  of  questions  of  progress 
and  time.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  steps  of  progress  in  manufacture 
represented  by  rejected  forms  pertaining  to  each  implement  in  Dia- 
gram I.  necessarily  duplicate  somewhat  closely  the  corresponding 
steps  of  manufacture  in  Diagram  111.,  although  the  steps  in  the  former 
are  all  of  one  time,  and  the  latter  represent  all  times. 

The  facts  to  be  especially  brought  out  are  these:  The  conditions 
of  art  in  stone  are  such  that  the  simpler  forms  of  flaked  implements 
employed  in  cutting,  picking,  scraping  and  striking  are  necessarily 
shaped  by  like  processes,  pass  through  like  changes  of  form  and  reach 
closely  identical  results,  whether  made  by  a  people  of  low  culture 
grade  doing  their  best  work,  or  by  a  people  of  high  culture  doing  their 
rudest  work.  The  early  shapes  will  be  repeated  in  the  later  shapes, 
and  the  refuse  of  rejection  will,  in  the  nature  of  things,  up  to  the 
stage  where  specialization  begins  to  take  effect,  be  largely  identical. 
The  finished  implement  belonging  at  A  in  Diagram  111.,  a  paleolithic 
position,  may  be  practically  duplicated  through  all  the  ages  along  the 
vertical  line  A,  B,  in  Diagram  I.  So  the  blade  appearing  first  as  an 
ancestor  of  the  arrow,  say  at  E  in  Diagram  III.,  is  repeated  practically 
in  all  the  blade  forms  of  subsequent  ages  and  in  all  the  blank  forms  of 
all  implements  of  blade  genesis. 

The  evolution  of  species  of  implements,  as  of  species  of  animals 
or  plants,  is  a  progress  accompanied  by  specialization  and  ditferentia- 
tion  of  form.  An  implement  of  the  simplest  type  under  stress  of 
human  needs  is  elaborated  to  increase  its  efficiency  and  is  specialized 
to  fit  it  more  fully  for  a  particular  use.  Uses  multiply  and  the  spe- 
cialization takes  different  directions,  diverging  and  differentiating  until 
the  results  are  complex  and  numerous  species  of  implements  exist. 


138         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

This  process  may  be  expressed  to  the  eye,  but  it  is  impossible  with 
our  Hmited  knowledge  of  the  details  of  morphology  at  the  various 
stages  of  development  to  give  concrete  examples  covering  the  whole 
ground.  We  know  that  progress  of  certain  kinds  took  place  and  that 
advancement  was  along  certain  general  lines  reaching  well-known  re- 
sults, and  the  general  truths  of  this  progress  are  expressed  in  Diagram 
IV.  In  this  diagram  the  idea  of  individual  morphology  and  the 
whole  group  of  phenomena  incident  to  manufacture  are  entirely 
omitted,  the  relations  of  genetic  succession  of  the  various  groups  of 
implements  being  alone  kept  in  view.  The  diagram  is  made  to  in- 
clude the  full  range  of  primitive  work  in  stone,  as  none  of  the  pro- 
cesses by  means  of  which  the  groups  are  developed  are  independent  of 
the  others  throughout  their  history.  The  more  typical  flaked  groups 
are  placed  on  the  left,  the  pecked,  abraded  and  incised  following  to 
the  right.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine  definitely  the  order  of  pro- 
cession, the  parting,  crossing  and  intercrossing  of  lines.  The  radical 
shaping  processes,  fracturing,  battering,  abrading  and  incising,  each 
give  rise  to  species  and  groups  of  species  of  implements,  partially 
enumerated  and  tentatively  placed  in  the  diagram.  The  attempt  to 
trace  a  particular  final  form  back  to  the  beginning  would  be  futile, 
although  in  some  cases  a  probable  course  of  progress  can  be  made 
out,  as  with  the  arrow-point,  which  connects  back  no  doubt  through 
the  spear-point  and  the  knife  with  the  primal  sharpened  stone.  A 
notion  of  the  comparative  complexity  of  the  phenomena  at  succeed- 
ing periods  of  time  and  stages  of  progress  may  be  obtained  by  com- 
paring the  groups  of  radiating  lines  at  the  points  crossed  by  the  four 
concentric  lines  A,  B,  C,  D. 

Evolution  of  implements  carries  or  has  associated  more  or  less 
closely  with  it  other  groups  of  evolutional  phenomena  which  could  be 
given  separate  consideration  to  good  advantage;  these  include  the  evo- 
lution of  processes,  of  form,  of  function,  of  trade,  of  transportation, 
ttc,  but  the  discussion  of  these  topics  would  extend  this  paper  beyond 
the  limits  set  for  it. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  great  importance  of  thorough 
analysis  of  the  phenomena  of  art,  and  especially  to  the  most  exhaust- 
ive study  of  the  fragmental  materials  of  archaeology.  An  analysis, 
not  yet  fully  perfected,  of  flaked  stone  art  has  been  attempted,  in 
which  much  weight  is  given  to  the  idea  that  art  should  be  studied  as 
natural  history  is  studied,  that  objects  of  art  must  not  be  treated  as 
independent  individuals  merely,  or  as  groups  of  individuals  associated 


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DIAGRAM  IV. 

EVOLUTION   OF   SPECIES   OF   STONE  IMPLEMENTS    BY    I>n  FEKENTATION 

AND  SPECIALIZATION. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  OF   FLAKED  STONE   IMPLEMENTS.  l39 

by  superficial  characters  for  convenience  of  description,  but  as  phe- 
nomena to  be  rightly  understood  only  through  their  relationships  with 
the  whole  scheme  of  nature,  viewed  in  the  light  of  evolution.  It  has 
been  shown  that  the  utilization  of  works  of  art  as  the  materials  of 
history  is  unsafe  until  the  whole  group  of  phenomena  has  been  con- 
sidered with  respect  to  origin,  genesis  and  all  the  details  of  morphol- 
ogy and  development. 


CACHE  FINDS  FROM  ANCIENT  VILLAGE  SITES  IN 

NEW  JERSEY. 

BY  ERNEST   VOLK. 

IT  has  been  stated  that  the  rudely  chipped  argillites  so  frequently 
found  on  the  gravel  and  village  sites  in  the  Delaware  Valley  were 
nothing  further  than  rejects  made  by  the  recent  Indian.  Able  and 
efficient  men  have  discussed  this  subject  time  and  again,  and  much 
has  been  said  for  and  against  the  statement. 

My  recent  explorations  in  the  Delaware  Valley  have  brought  facts 
to  my  knowledge  which  bear,  1  think,  upon  this  subject,  and  I  will 
relate  them  here  in  brief  on  the  contents  of  pits  and  caches  on  old  vil- 
lage sites  near  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  A  paper  read  by  me  at  the 
Madison  meeting  of  the  A.  A.  A.  S.  a  short  time  ago  states  that 
argillite  was  used  dilferently,  in  manufacturing  implements  on  or  near 
the  surface,  than  by  its  earlier  comers,  whose  traces  lay  nearly  3^ 
feet  below  those  of  the  last  occupants  of  that  locality.  We  find  on 
examining  the  lowland  village  site  that  we  have  many  pits  on  the 
northern  end  of  the  village  that  come  within  nine  or  ten  inches  of 
the  present  surface.  These  were  undoubtedly  the  latest  ones  in  use, 
and  among  these  we  have  several  that  contain  exclusively  nothing  but 
very  thin  argillite  chips— in  all  the  higher  pits — that  is,  in  those  that 
are  reaching  near  the  surface.  Two  of  these  especially  have  round 
black  chert  pebbles,  much  worn  by  use;  also  round  quartzite  pebbles 
of  small  size  are  found  with  them  among  the  chips.  These  pebbles 
have  been  apparently  used  in  detaching  the  thin  chips  from  a  ruder 
body  already  reduced  to  a  smaller  size;  in  other  words,  these  chips 
were  made  in  tlnishing  an  implement. 

The  soil  in  this  locality  is  of  a  sandy  leaf  mould  and  loam,  and  does 
not  contain  a  single  stone  or  pebble  naturally;  therefore  all  we  find 
here  were  brought  by  these  people.  The  Delaware  River,  which  is 
only  about  one  mile  off  to  the  southwest,  is  the  only  source  from 
which  this  material  could  have  been  brought.  The  argillite  being 
plentiful  there,  there  is  no  reason  why  these  people  should  not  have 
made  use  of  it,  the  same  as  they  did  of  the  large  flat  stones  and  the 
large  water-worn  pestle-shaped  pebbles  of  which  we  have  found  so 

140 


CACHE  FINDS  FROM  ANCIENT  VILLAGE  SITES  IN  NEW  JERSEY.    141 

many  in  the  pits.  Among  these  pits  we  find  also  near  the  surface  a 
cache  of  rudely  chipped  argillites,  one  here  and  one  on  the  high- 
land or  terrace  village  site.  This  contains  fifteen  specimens  ten  inches 
below  the  surface,  and  the  other  on  the  highland  is  thirteen  inches 
below  the  surface  and  contains  seventeen  specimens.  They  are  in 
both  cases  arranged  in  three  layers,  the  lower  one  being  the  largest  in 
space,  the  top  one  the  smallest,  the  specimens  touching  each  other. 
These  have  apparently  been  stowed  away  to  be  finished  at  leisure. 

The  several  pits  near  the  surface,  and  really  all  the  thin  chips 
found  in  those  upper  pits,  are  evidently  the  result  of  a  finishing  pro- 
cess upon  those  argillites,  rudely  chipped  somewhere  else  and  brought 
into  camp  to  be  finished. 

In  the  summer  of  1891  1  examined  forty-six  miles  of  the  shore 
and  bed  of  the  Delaware  River,  as  far  up  as  Milford,  New  Jersey, 
which  is  ten  miles  above  the  argillite  outcrop  at  Point  Pleasant  and 
thirty-four  miles  above  Trenton,  and  1  went  as  far  as  twelve  miles 
below  that  city.  In  these  trips  along  the  shore  and  bed  of  the  Dela- 
ware I  noticed  a  continuous  line  of  workshops,  where  exclusively 
argillite  was  worked.  Many  were  situated  on  the  blufi^,  but  more  in 
the  so-called  spring  freshet  line  or  wash-out.  They  all  contained  rude 
flakes  of  argillite,  together  with  broken  quartzite  pebbles  evidently  used 
as  hammer-stones.  Here  argillite  was  rudely  chipped  and  then  taken 
away,  to  be  finished  at  home.  I  stated  this  two  years  ago  in  my 
notes  on  river  explorations  for  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition. 

The  pits  of  argillite  chips  showing  the  total  absence  of  rude  or 
course  flakes,  and  the  caches  showing  the  rudely  chipped  argillites, 
would  necessarily  give  rise  to  the  question:  Can  those  rudely  chipped 
argillites  be  called  rejects? 

A  few  more  facts  will  help  to  throw  further  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject. There  seems  to  be  a  great  ditference  in  the  rude  chipping  of 
argillite,  not  only  in  the  way  of  chipping,  but  also  in  the  nature  of 
the  material  and  the  knowledge  of  the  difference  by  the  operator. 

The  specimens  that  are  found  on  and  in  the  gravel  of  the  Dela- 
ware are,  as  a  rule,  very  thick,  with  a  still  thicker  part,  the  so-called 
butt-end,  and  that  notorious  hump  which  has  caused  the  name 
"  turtleback"  and  cannot  be  mistaken  for  the  quarry  specimens  from 
Point  Pleasant  quarry,  explored  by  Mr.  Mercer,  of  Doylestown.  These 
specimens  are  much  flatter  and  thinner  and  show  less  flake  faces, 
and  no  hump  nor  butt  at  all.  These  chippings  are  undoubtedly  due 
to  the  full  knowledge  of  the  cleavage  by  the  operator  of  the  unex- 


142        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

pose  solid  rock;  consequently  the  mining  or  quarrying  of  the  same. 
This  knowledge  must  have  been  the  result  of  the  chipping  of  the  river 
material  and  succeeded  the  same. 

Another  is  the  manufacturing  of  implements  from  flakes  of 
argillite.  Such  were  apparently  saved  and  stored  away  for  future 
use,  as  the  cache  on  the  lowland  village  site  in  my  collection  plainly 
illustrates.  It  was  seemingly  a  wasteful  way  to  these  last  inhabitants 
of  this  place  to  begin  to  manufacture  a  small  implement  out  of  a 
large  piece  of  material  or  rock  and  to  have  so  much  material  to  get 
away  with.  It  is  also  an  evidence  of  advanced  skill  over  that  of  the 
first  comers  at  this  habitation  site,  and  a  proof  that  a  smaller  imple- 
ment had  become  necessary  to  them.  The  manufacture  of  imple- 
ments from  flakes  is  not  new,  and  we  find  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  G . 
A.  Dorsey,  from  Peru,  flint  flakes  of  a  rude  nature  stored  in  a  net  bag, 
together  with  the  hafted  arrow-points  of  the  same  material,  all  found 
with  a  skeleton  in  a  grave. 

The  existence  of  rejects  in  places  where  chipping  has  been  done 
can  not  be  disputed,  but  neither  can  we  classify  all  rude  chipped 
argillites  as  rejects  or  unfinished  implements.  An  extensive  study 
of  the  art  of  chipping,  especially  of  this  material,  is  necessary  to 
enable  the  student  to  identify  the  rude  implements  from  the  unfinished 
ones  and  from  the  rejects. 

Some  of  the  rude  forms  we  find  in  the  cache  in  the  terrace  vil- 
lage site  (Wright's  field)  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  those  speci- 
mens generally  found  on  and  in  the  gravel  in  the  Delaware  Valley. 

The  accompanying  illustrations  show  twelve  of  the  seventeen 
specimens  found  in  the  highland  cache,  face  and  edge  view  of  each 
specimen. 


ETHNOLOGY. 


143 


ETHNOLOGY. 

ON  VARIOUS  SUPPOSED  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE 
AMERICAN  AND  ASIAN  RACES. 

BY   D.    G.    BRINTON. 

THE  isolation  of  the  Ainerican  race  from  the  earliest  prehistoric 
times  seems  to  have  been  so  complete  that  any  positive  evi- 
dence that  it  was  perceptibly  influenced  in  its  development, 
either  physical  or  psychical,  by  any  other  race,  is  exceedingly  scant, 
if  it  exists  at  all.  As  for  myself,  though  certainly  willing  to  welcome 
any  clear  testimony  to  such  influence,  I  have  been  unable  to  find  any 
which  will  bear  even  slight  examination.  To  illustrate  this,  I  shall  in 
this  paper  briefly  review  a  number  of  recent  assertions  as  to  the  sup- 
posed relations  between  the  American  and  Asian  races  in  compara- 
tively recent  or  ancient  times,  and  see  if  they  have  any  real  bearing 
on  the  question,  or  are  of  value  in  its  solution. 

1  should  naturally  begin  with  a  study  of  the  alleged  physical  re- 
semblances between  the  two  races;  but  I  may  be  dispensed  from  that, 
as  but  a  few  years  ago  1  had  the  honor  of  reading  before  the  Ameri- 
can Association  a  paper  disproving  the  alleged  Mongoloid  resemblances 
of  the  American  race.*  When  this  paper  was  published,  it  was  vigor- 
ously attacked  by  Dr.  Ten  Kate,  but  has  since  been  amply  supported 
by  the  researches  of  Fritsch,  of  Berlin,  on  the  hair  of  the  American 
Indians,  and  of  Virchow,  on  their  skulls.  In  the  Compte  Rendu  of 
the  Congress  of  Americanists  for  1890,  Dr.  Ten  Kate,  indeed,  repeats 
his  Mongoloid  theory,  offering  no  new  evidence,  but  is  astonished  and 
sad  at  the  defection  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  especially  Fritsch,  from 
his  favorite  hypothesis.  The  defection,  however,  is  steadily  growing, 
and  Dr.  Ten  Kate  will  soon  be  the  only  ethnic  anatomist  of  repute 
who  lays  much  stress  on  the  points  of  resemblance  he  has  noted. 

Of  late,  much  more  has  been  made  of  the  resemblances  of  arts, 
religions,  traditions    symbolisms  and  languages,  than  of  physical 


♦Reprinted  in  my  Essays  of  an  c/!mcncanisf,  pp.  55-66  (Phila.  1S90). 

145 


146         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

traits;  so  to  these  mental  products  I  shall  now  turn,  to  see  what  they 
are  alleged  to  otTer  in  proof  of  some  former  connection  between  the 
people  of  the  two  continents. 

Of  course,  everybody  knows  that  across  the  narrow  straits  of 
Behring  there  has  been  going  on  a  commercial  interchange  for  untold 
generations.  For  time  out  of  mind,  several  large  fairs  have  been 
annually  held  on  the  west  coast  of  Alaska  at  various  points  to  which 
representatives  of  Asiatic  tribes  journeyed,  bringing  with  them  the 
products  peculiar  to  their  continent,  including  slaves,  both  male  and 
female,  which  were  bartered  for  such  American  commodities  as  were 
desired.  In  an  article  printed  about  a  year  ago,  I  gave,  from  infor- 
mation furnished  me  by  officers  of  our  navy,  the  localities  and  seasons 
of  these  fairs.*  By  this  agency  many  articles  from  various  parts  of 
Siberia,  and  doubtless  also  many  customs,  and  more  or  less  Asiatic 
blood,  were  introduced  into  the  tribes  of  the  extreme  Northwest,  the 
Tlinkit,  the  Tinneh,  and  especially  the  Eskimos. 

Through  this  channel  I  would  explain  the  transmission  of  the 
Chinese  temple-coins  found  as  the  eye-pieces  of  a  wooden  mask  in  an 
ancient  Chilcat  grave  by  Lieut.  T.  Dix  BoUes,  a  few  years  ago.f  He 
acknowledges  that  the  objects  could  claim  no  great  antiquity,  as  the 
mask  still  retained,  even  in  that  wet  climate,  a  sparse  fringe  of  human 
hair  around  it.  He  guesses  the  age  of  the  grave  at  two  hundred 
years,  which  we  may  well  allow. 

To  the  same  source  we  may  attribute  those  customs  of  the  West- 
ern Eskimo  to  which  Mr.  John  Murdoch  has  assigned  a  Siberian 
origin,  such  as  the  general  use  of  tobacco  in  pipes  of  a  peculiar  form; 
the  employment  of  nets  in  fishing;  and  the  art  of  catching  fowls  by 
means  of  small  stones  at  the  end  of  a  cord,  known  as  "  bird-bolas." 
Mr.  Murdoch  does  not  pretend  that  these  testify  to  any  very  ancient 
communications  between  the  two  continents;  on  the  contrary,  his 
words  are:  "  That  these  customs  were  acquired  at  a  comparatively 
recent  date  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  all  stop  short  at  Cape 

Bathurst."t 

The  Asiatic  origin  of  the  Eskimos  has  been  a  favorite  subject 
with  several  recent  writers.  They  are  quite  dissatisfied  if  they  cannot 
at  least  lop  these  hyperboreans  from  the  American  stem,  and  graft 


*  Printed  in  Science,  May  20,  1S92. 

f  Bolles,  "  On  Chinese  Relics  in  Alaska,"  in  Proc.  National  Museum,  Vol.  XV. 

X  Murdoch,  in  American  Anthropologist,  October,  1888. 


ON  VARIOUS  SUPPOSED   RELATIONS,    ETC.  147 

them  on  some  Asian  stock.  That  worthy  student,  the  Abbe  Emile 
Petitot,  has  published  in  the  Bulletin  de  la.  Societe  Normande  de 
Geographie,  for  1890,  a  brief  setting  forth  this  side  of  the  case.  He 
marshals  the  evidence,  first,  from  the  traditions  of  the  Eskimo,  which 
he  asserts  trace  the  ancestral  horde  back  to  Asia;  secondly,  he  presents 
what  he  claims  are  numerous  linguistic  analogies  of  the  Eskimo  to  the 
Ural-Altaic  tongues;  and  he  concludes  by  pointing  out  many  resem- 
blances in  customs.  It  seriously  militates  against  the  supposed  lin- 
guistic analogies  that  they  are  denied  flatly  by  Dr.  Heinrich  Winkler, 
probably  as  good  an  authority  as  any  on  the  Ural-Altaic  tongues; 
while  the  value  of  tradition  on  this  question  cannot  be  rated  very 
high,  and  the  similarities  of  custom  are  such  as  obtain  between  any 
two  tribes  of  about  the  same  grade  of  culture  the  world  over. 

The  recklessness  with  which  such  statements  are  sometimes  made 
is  illustrated  by  the  following  sentence  beginning  a  paper  by  M.  Desire 
Charnay  in  the  Compte  Rendu  of  the  Vlllth  session  of  the  Congress 
of  Americanists:  "  The  traditions  of  the  civilized  peoples  of  America 
state  that  they  came  from  Asia,  and  all  speak  of  their  rafts  and  houses 
of  wood,  acalli,  in  which  the  emigrants  crossed  Behring  Straits." 
The  assumption  in  this  sentence  that  the  early  nations  of  Mexico  were 
acquainted  with  the  continent  of  Asia  and  the  Straits  of  Behring  is 
something  sublime  in  its  audacity.  The  writer  goes  on  to  find  anal- 
ogies between  the  culture  and  customs  of  Mexico  and  those  of  China, 
Cambodia,  Assyria,  Chaldea  and  Asia  Minor.  1  grant  he  finds  plenty, 
but  I  ask,  Are  we  therefore  to  transport  all  these  ancient  peoples,  or 
representatives  of  them,  into  Mexico? 

What  kind  of  analogies  are  those  on  which  these  writers  rely  to 
establish  their  thesis  of  an  Asiatic  immigration?  I  shall  quote  a  num- 
ber advanced  by  that  excellent  antiquary,  M.  Eugene  Boban,  in  a  work 
published  in  Paris  last  year.*  He  says  that  certain  of  the  Mexican 
tribes  are  "  bien  certainement"  of  Chinese  origin,  because  they  have 
arts  which  are  just  alike.  Both  nations,  for  instance,  made  paper; 
both  tanned  leather,  cut  and  polished  precious  stones,  worked  feathers 
into  dresses  and  ornaments,  moulded  pottery,  cultivated  gardens, 
named  their  children  after  stars  and  flowers,  and  so  on.  He  well  says 
that  he  could  **  remplir  bien  des pages"  with  such  analogies.  So  he 
could:   as  that  the  people  of  both  nations  slept  at  night;  that  they  ate 


Catalogue  Raisoinice  de  la  Collection  Goiiptl,  Tome  II.,  pp.  65,  66. 


148         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

both  meat  and  vegetables  when  they  could  get  them;  that  they  wore 
clothing  when  it  was  cold,  and  equally  surprising  coincidences. 

But  the  inner  stronghold  of  those  who  defend  the  Asiatic  origin 
of  Mexican  and  Central  American  civilization  is,  I  am  well  aware,  de- 
fended by  no  such  feeble  outposts  as  these,  but  by  a  triple  line  of  in- 
trenchment,  consisting  respectively  of  the  Mexican  calendar,  the  game 
of  patoUi,  and  the  presence  of  Asiatic  jade  in  America.  I  shall  attack 
them  seriatim:   and  first  for  the  calendar. 

Alexander  von  Humboldt  is  responsible  for  assigning  to  the 
calendar  in  use  before  the  conquest  throughout  much  of  Mexico  and 
Central  America  an  Asiatic  origin.  He  declared  that  it  was  derived 
from  that  in  current  use  by  Thibetan  and  Tartar  tribes;  and  so  great 
has  been  the  weight  of  his  authority  that  even  such  a  writer  as  Dr. 
Edward  B.  Tylor  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  Humboldt  "  proved  " 
this  assertion;*  and  the  learned  Mexican  archaeologist,  the  late  Orozco 
y  Berra,  also  accepted  it  without  hesitation. f 

Yet,  in  fact,  there  is  absolutely  no  similarity  between  the  Thibetan 
calendar  and  the  primitive  form  of  the  American,  as  we  find  it  among 
the  Zapotecas,  which  form  Orozco  y  Berra  himself  acknowledged 
was  at  the  basis  of  all  others  found  in  Mexico  or  the  adjacent  regions. 
The  American  calendar  was  not  intended  as  a  year-count,  but  as  a 
ritual  and  formulary.  Its  signs  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  as  had' all  those  in  the  Thibetan  and  Tartar  calendars; 
and,  moreover,  we  can  trace  it  developing  in  quite  different  directions 
during  the  process  in  various  tribes  of  bringing  it  into  relation  with 
the  civil  year-count.  No  one  who  will  carefully  trace  the  evolution 
of  the  Mexican  calendar  through  the  variations  it  assumed  among  the 
Maya  tribes,  the  Nahuas,  the  Tarascos  and  the  Mixtecas,  can  harbor 
any  further  doubt  about  it  being  a  wholly  indigenous  American  pro- 
duction. Humboldt  himself  said  that  the  calendar  of  the  Chibchas 
of  South  America  more  closely  resembled  those  of  Central  Asia  than 
did  that  of  Mexico. 

I  next  turn  to  the  game  of  patolli,  which,  according  to  Dr.  Ed- 
ward B.  Tylor,  was  an  adaptation  by  the  ancient  Mexicans  of  the  game 
oi  parchesi,  familiar  to-day  in  Hindostari.J  It  is  a  game  allied  to 
backgammon,  and  in  Mexico  was  played  with  beans  marked  on  one 


*  In  the  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute  of  Great  Britain,  1S78. 
t  In  his  Historia  Antigua  de  Mexico,  Tom  HL,  cap.  VIU.     (Mexico,  1880.) 
I  Dr.  Tyler's  article  is  in  the  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute  for  1878. 


ON  VARIOUS  SUPPOSED  RELATIONS,    ETC.  149 

side,  which  took  the  place  of  dice.  This  game  has  lately  been  made 
the  subject  of  careful  study  by  Mr.  Culin,  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Mr.  Frank  Gushing:,  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology;  and  1 
am  authorized  to  say  that  both  these  competent  authorities  agree  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  patolli  is  thoroughly  American  in 
origin,  no  matter  how  closely  it  assimilates  the  East  Indian  game. 

Having  disposed  of  the  calendar  and  patolli,  1  shall  next  pick  up 
the  article  of  jade,  and  sec  what  it  tells  us  about  the  Asian  immigra- 
tion, growing  now  somewhat  hazy.  Jade  and  its  significance  is  a 
favorite  subject  with  our  distinguished  member,  Professor  Putnam, 
and  he  has  in  various  passages  of  his  reports  of  the  Peabody  Museum 
at  Cambridge  spoken  of  the  potent  testimony  it  renders  to  the  ancient 
commerce  and  interchange  of  arts  and  art-products  between  America 
and  Asia.  The  force  of  the  argument  lies  in  the  assumption  that  cer- 
tain ancient  implements  of  this  material  discovered  in  America  are  in 
a  variety  of  it  not  obtainable  outside  of  Southern  Asia. 

Professor  Putnam  and  his  associates  in  this  opinion  are  not  will- 
ing to  accept  the  decision  of  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer,  of  Dresden,  that  jade, 
jadeite  and  nephrite  are  found  so  widely  over  the  world,  and  of  so 
many  varieties,  that  it  is  no  longer  admissible  to  found  upon  them  an 
ethnologic  theory;  they  have  not  been  convinced  by  the  admirably 
thorough  paper  by  Dr.  Virchow  before  the  Congress  of  Americanists, 
in  1888,  indorsing  fully  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Meyer;  they  reject  the 
words  of  that  competent  authority,  Dieck,  at  the  same  congress,  when 
he  said:  ' '  We  have  no  occasion  to  call  in  the  aid  of  a  Mongoloid  or 
Asiatic  immigration  to  explain  the  presence  of  these  green-stone  tools 
in  America."  More  than  this,  they  seem  to  be  undisturbed  by  the 
yearly  discovery  of  more  and  more  localities  where  jade  is  found  in 
situ  on  this  continent,  and  the  presentation  of  objects  in  this  stone 
from  new  regions,  as  those  sent  by  Dr.  Ernst  from  Venezuela. 
Others,  however,  must  admit  that  no  variety  of  jade  whatever,  from 
a  purely  mineralogical  point  of  view,  can  attest  ethnic  wanderings. 

It  seems  scarcely  worth  while  seriously  to  consider  the  evidence 
brought  forward  from  tradition  and  so-called  pre-Columbian  history. 
The  hoariest  records  there  are  anywhere  in  America  trace  the  migra- 
tions of  tribes  for  not  more  than  a  very  few  centuries  previous  to  the  dis- 
covery by  Columbus;  and,  by  any  fair  construction,  never  beyond  a 
short  distance  from  the  nation's  central  station.  Even  with  regard  to 
the  ample  and  reasonably  ancient  traditions  of  the  Nahuas,  of  the 
Valley  of  Mexico,  we  may  safely  adopt  the  opinion  of  the  learned 


150        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Ramirez,  that  the  geographical  area  to  which  they  refer  will  scarcely 
carry  us  beyond  the  limits  of  the  valley  itself. 

That  there  should  be  frequent  parallelisms  in  the  religious  tradi- 
tions, the  myths,  and  the  stories  of  gods  and  demi-gods,  will  surprise 
no  one  who  has  extended  his  studies  of  comparative  mythology  over 
ihe  savage  races  of  all  continents.  The  development  of  the  religious 
sentiment,  the  gropings  of  man  in  the  dark,  to  find  out  and  define  to 
his  intelligence  the  mysterious  power  which  masters  the  storm,  moves 
the  stars,  and  visits  death  and  life,  fate  and  fortune,  on  the  sons  of 
men,  bear  in  all  times  and  climes  an  almost  fixed  relation  to  the  gen- 
eral intellectual  development  of  the  individual  and  the  community. 
The  same  is  substantially  true  of  folk-lore  and  of  many  institutions 
of  social  life  and  family  ties.  The  day  is  certainly  past  when  an  eth- 
nologist of  ripe  culture  will  prefer  the  genealogic  to  the  anthropologic 
explanation  of  such  similarities,  even  if  they  progress  to  identities. 

The  same  is  doubly  true  of  symbolism.  1  do  not  deny  that  we 
find  on  American  soil  and  among  primitive  American  tribes  the  sacred 
symbols  of  the  Orient,  svastika  of  the  Aryans,  the  lai  hi  of  the  Chi- 
nese, the  cross  of  Christianity,  The  circle,  the  quadrilateral,  the  tri- 
angle, the  serpent,  the  bird  and  the  tree,  the  sacred  numbers  three, 
four  and  seven,  the  significant  members,  the  hand,  the  tongue  and 
the  phallus — all  these  and  many  more  possessed  to  the  dark-hued 
tribes  of  America  as  mysterious  and  as  pregnant  a  significance  as  they 
did  to  the  worshipers  in  the  temples  by  the  Nile,  or  to  the  white- 
robed  priests  in  the  isles  of  Greece. 

This  is,  indeed,  matter  of  amazement,  food  for  reflection;  but 
our  amazement  springs  from  the  consideration  how  man,  everywhere 
different,  is  yet  everywhere  the  same;  and  our  reflection  is  that,  what- 
soever is  his  history,  by  whatsoever  environment  he  is  surrounded,  in 
his  slow  progress  from  the  darkness  of  savagery  to  the  light  of  civili- 
zation he  treads  the  same  path,  aids  himself  by  the  same  weak  sup- 
ports, and  seeks  the  same  material  wrappings  in  which  to  swathe  the 
feeble  progeny  of  his  intellect  and  imagination. 

I  have  reserved  for  the  last  the  linguistic  question:  Do  any  of 
the  numerous  languages  and  innumerable  dialects  of  America  present 
any  affinities,  judged  by  the  standards  of  the  best  modern  linguistic 
schools,  which  would  bring  them  into  genetic  relationship  with  any 
of  the  dialects  of  Asia.? 

I  believe  I  have  a  right  to  speak  with  some  authority  on  this  sub- 
ject, for  the  American  languages  have  constituted  the  principal  study 


ON  VARIOUS  SUPPOSED  RELATIONS,   ETC.  15  I 

of  my  life;  and  I  say  unhesitatingly  that  no  such  at^lnities  have  been 
shown;  and  1  say  this  with  an  abundant  acquaintance  with  such  works 
^•s  The  Prehistoric  Comparative  Philology  oi  Dr.  Hyde  Clarke;  with 
the  writings  of  the  Rev.  John  Campibell,  who  has  discovered  the 
Hittite  language  in  America  before  we  have  learned  where  it  was  in 
Asia;  with  the  laborious  Comparative  Philology  of  Mr.  R.  P.  Greg; 
with  the  Amerikanisch-Asiatische  Etymologieii  of  the  ardent  Am- 
ericanist Mr.  Julius  Platzmann;  with  the  proof  that  the  Nahuatl  is  an 
Aryan  language,  furnished  by  the  late  director  of  the  National  Mu- 
seum of  Mexico,  Senor  Gumesindo  Mendoza;  with  Varnhagen's  array 
of  evidence  that  the  Tupi  and  Carib  are  Turanian  dialects  imported 
into  Brazil  from  Siberia;  with  the  Abbe  Petitot's  conviction  that  the 
Tinneh  of  Canada  is  a  Semitic  dialect;  with  Naxera's  identitication  of 
the  Otomi  with  the  Chinese;  and  with  many  more  such  scientific 
vagaries  which,  in  the  auctioneer's  phrase,  are  too  tedious  to  mention. 

When  I  see  volumes  of  this  character,  many  involving  prolonged 
and  arduous  research  on  the  part  of  the  authors  and  a  corresponding 
sacrifice  of  pleasant  things  in  other  directions,  I  am  affected  by  a  sense 
of  deep  commiseration  for  able  men  who  expend  their  efforts  in  pur- 
suit of  such  will-o'-the-wisps  of  science,  panting  along  roads  which 
lead  nowhere,  inattentive  to  the  guide-posts  which  alone  can  direct 
them  to  solid  ground. 

What  one  of  the  works  1  have  mentioned  respects  those  prin- 
ciples of  phonetic  variation,  of  systematic  derivation,  of  the  historic 
comparison  of  languages,  of  grammatic  evolution,  of  morphologic 
development,  which  are  as  accurately  known  to-day  as  the  laws  of 
chemistry  or  electricity?  Not  one  of  them.  And  yet  to  attempt 
comparisons  in  disregard  of  these  laws  is  as  insensate  as  to  start  on  an 
ocean  voyage  without  a  compass  or  an  instrument  of  observation. 
The  craft  is  lost  as  soon  as  it  is  out  of  sight  of  land. 

1  maintain,  therefore,  in  conclusion,  that  up  to  the  present  time 
there  has  not  been  shown  a  single  dialect,  not  an  art  nor  an  institu- 
tion, not  a  myth  or  religious  rite,  not  a  domesticated  plant  or  animal, 
not  a  tool,  weapon,  game  or  symbol,  in  use  in  America  at  the  time  of 
the  discovery,  which  had  been  previously  imported  from  Asia,  or 
from  any  other  continent  of  the  Old  World. 


BARK  CLOTH. 

BY  WALTER  HOUGH. 
[Abstract.] 

THE  paper  described  the  process  of  producing  a  useful  fabric  from 
the  bast  of  certain  trees,  softened  and  extended  by  beating  with 
grooved  clubs,  and  the  finished  cloth;  or  felt  of  various  degrees 
of  texture,  from  that  of  the  Talamancas  of  Costa  Rica  to  the  delicate 
stuffs  made  by  the  Polynesians. 

The  necessity  of  the  employment  of  the  club  with  grooves  v/as 
explained,  and  the  usual  appearance  of  this  feature  wherever  bark  cloth 
is  made,  or  where  bark  is  softened,  as  on  the  northwest  coast  of 
America.  The  connection  of  the  grooved  stones  found  in  Mexico  and 
southward  with  this  art  was  pointed  out. 

The  range  of  the  bark  cloth  industry  was  shown  to  be  very  wide. 
It  includes  Central  America,  the  West  Indies,  South  America,  Africa, 
among  nearly  all  tribes,  India,  the  Pacific  Islands  to  the  extreme  out- 
lier Easter  Island.     The  Australians  pound  out  bark  to  make  bags. 

Ancient  classical  references  were  given  from  Strabo  and  Theo- 
phrastus,  and  in  India  from  the  Vinaya  Mahavagga  and  the  Jataka. 

The  multifarious  uses  of  bark  for  paper-making,  basketry,  mat- 
making,  cordage,  utensils,  etc.,  etc.,  were  spoken  of. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  for  the  production  of  stuffs  for  clothing, 
etc, ,  the  bark-beating  apparatus  has  in  most  cases  preceded  the  loom. 

This  industry  is  almost  wholly  confined  to  tropical  or  sub-trop- 
ical countries,  depending  upon  the  range  of  trees  in  which  the  filaments 
of  the  bast  are  interlaced. 


152 


LOVE  SONGS  AMONG  THE  OMAHA  INDIANS. 

BY  ALICE  C.  FLETCHER. 

IT  is  well  known  that  Indian  ceremonies,  both  religious  and  secular, 
are  enveloped  in  song.  Public  ceremonies  and  all  ordinary  avoca- 
tions can  be  observed  without  difficulty,  but  many  obstacles  arise 
when  a  student  would  penetrate  into  the  mysteries  of  secret  societies 
and  ceremonials,  and  these  obstacles  increase  as  he  approaches  the  In- 
dian's personal  habits  and  experiences.  As  a  result  of  these  obstacles, 
which  are  enhanced  by  the  Indian's  shyness  and  reserve  upon  all  per- 
sonal matters,  the  statement  has  gone  abroad  that  he,  whose  every  act 
is  set  to  music,  so  to  speak,  is  silent  when  moved  by  the  emotion  of 
love,  and  that  he  knows  no  wooing  such  as  is  recognized  among  more 
advanced  races. 

Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  the  postscript  to  his  essay  on  the  Origin 
of  Music,  published  less  than  three  years  ago,  writes:  "  Out  of  all  the 
testimonies  "  (and  these  testimonies  include  statements  concerning  the 
North  American  Indians)  "there  is  not  one  which  tells  of  a  love-song 
spontaneously  commenced  by  a  man  to  charm  a  woman." 

During  the  last  dozen  years  I  have  spent  much  time  in  the 
patient  study  of  Indian  music  in  a  number  of  tribes  belonging  to  diff- 
erent linguistic  stocks,  and  have  transcribed  hundreds  of  their  songs. 
These  cover  a  wide  range  of  ceremonial  and  personal  experiences,  and 
include  courting  or  love  songs. 

My  present  illustrations  will  be  drawn  from  the  Omaha  tribe,  for 
the  reason  that  a  number  of  Omaha  songs  have  recently  been  pub- 
lished by  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Harvard  University,  and  are  avail- 
able for  reference. 

A  study  of  the  songs  of  the  various  Indian  tribes  of  this  country 
gives  glimpses  of  the  unfolding  of  the  emotional  nature  of  the  race, 
and  reveals  evidences  of  growth  in  the  power  of  expression.  In  these 
songs  we  come  near  to  the  beginnings  of  the  kindred  arts  of  music 
and  poetry,  and  note  how  apparently  the  early  metrical  expression  of 
emotion  was  in  music  rather  than  in  verse,  and  that  it  was  the  rhythm 
of  the  song  that  moulded  the  words  into  metrical  numbers. 

In  all  primitive  music  rhythm  is  strongly  developed.  The  pulsa- 
tions of  the  drum  and  the  sharp  crash  of  the  rattles  are  thrown  against 


153 


154        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

each  other  and  against  the  voice,  so  that  it  would  seem  that  the  pleas- 
sure  derived  by  the  performers  lay  not  so  much  in  the  tonality  of  the 
song-  as  in  the  measured  sounds  arrayed  in  contesting  rhythms,  which 
by  their  clash  sta-rt  the  nerves  and  spur  the  body  to  action,  for  the 
voice,  which  alone  carries  the  tone,  is  often  subordinated,  and  treated 
as  an  additional  instrument.  Our  Indian  songs  partake  somewhat  of 
this  primitive  character.  In  them  rhythm  is  strongly  marked,  and 
often  we  find  two  or  more  rhythms  contesting  with  each  other  through 
all  the  intricacies  of  syncopation.  The  skill  the  Indian  displays  sing- 
ing in  one  rhythm  and  drumming  in  another  is  not  a  mark  of  highly 
developed  musical  sense,  but,  on  the  contrary,  belongs  to  its  earlier 
manifestations.  Much  practice  would  be  required  to  enable  us  to 
imitate  his  surprising  performance,  our  ears  having  been  trained  more 
especially  in  tonality  and  simple  rhythms.  It  seems  to  be  as  true  of 
the  race  as  of  the  child,  that  in  the  development  of  the  musical  sense 
delight  in  rhythm  precedes  tone  perception. 

There  are  many  Indian  songs,  however,  in  which  tonality  rises 
into  prominence  and  rhythm  is  felt  in  the  musical  phrase  rather  than 
merely  in  the  drum-beat.  Such  songs  evince  an  advance  in  power  of 
expression,  the  growth  of  higher  emotions  and  sentiments  having  de- 
manded a  higher  type  of  utterance. 

The  general  idea  associated  with  song  is  that  the  musical  tones 
act  as  a  vehicle  to  the  words,  bearing  them  above  their  literal  mean- 
ing, and  even  the  ancient  Greeks  held  that  music  without  words  was 
hardly  worth  consideration,  save  as  a  curiosity,  but  as  we  trace  our 
way  back  to  early  song  we  find  that  the  importance  of  words  in  the 
explanation  of  tones  and  cadences  diminishes  as  we  proceed.  Indian 
songs  that  are  fully  supplied  with  words  are  the  exception.  Musical 
syllables  from  which  the  sibilants  and  gutturals  are  eliminated,  leav- 
ing only  the  flowing  vowel  sounds,  are  used  to  float  the  voice.  These 
musical  syllables,  once  fastened  to  a  song,  are  preserved  as  faithfully 
as  though  they  were  text.  There  are  many  songs  having  a  few  words 
only,  musical  syllables  filling  out  the  measures.  There  are  other 
songs  in  which  the  few  words  used  have  their  accents  changed,  or  are 
taken  apart  and  stretched  by  the  interposition  of  musical  syllables, 
and  the  phrase  made  elliptical  to  suit  the  rhythm  of  the  music, 
which  in  its  turn  voices  the  rhythm  of  the  emotion.  Such 
songs  are  interesting  as  affording  a  study  of  the  beginnings  of 
poetry,  of  the  bending  of  words  to  form  a  metrical  setting  to  the 
thought. 


LOVE   SONGS    AA\ONG   THE   OMAHA   INDIANS.  l55 

We  do  not  easily  understand  how  vocal  music  without  words 
can  convey  any  definite  meaning-,  and  it  may  be  suggested  that  such 
songs  find  their  interpretation  in  the  acts  of  the  ceremony  of  which 
they  form  a  part.  An  instance  to  the  contrary  can  be  found  in  the 
Omaha  funeral  song,  No.  57  in  the  monograph.  This  blythe  major 
melody  is  furnished  with  musical  syllables  only.  There  are  no  words 
to  explain  the  startling  contrast  of  the  soug  with  the  bloody  ceremony 
of  which  it  forms  a  part.  To  understand  what  this  song  conveys  to 
the  Omaha  Indian,  one  must  be  familiar  with  his  belief  concerning 
the  future  life  of  the  soul.  The  absence  of  words,  therefore,  does 
not  prevent  the  Indian's  apprehension  of  a  certain  definiteness  of  ex- 
pression in  musical  tones. 

It  is  impossible  to  understand  any  act  of  an  Indian  without  con- 
sidering the  all-pervasive  power  of  his  tribal  organization, 
an  organization  that  took  no  account  of  the  individual,  permitted 
no  personal  responsibility  or  personal  freedom,  and  which  bound  his 
mind  in  the  meshes  of  religious,  ritual  and  gentile  obligation.  Mar- 
riage was  therefore  an  affair  of  the  gentes  and  not  the  free  union  of  a 
man  and  woman  as  we  understand  the  relation.  The  laws  of  the 
gens  held  them  apart,  and  their  children  never  became  the  inheritors 
of  both  parents.  The  ceremony  of  marriage  was  often  a  formal  affair, 
affording  little  chance  for  the  play  of  love's  young  dream;  but  side  by 
side  with  these  restrictive  ceremonies  grew  up  the  custom  of  secret 
courtship  and  elopement.  So  they  say:  "An  old  man  buys  his 
wife;  a  young  man  steals  his." 

The  Indian  mode  of  life  was  such  that  the  morning  and  evening 
visit  to  the  spring,  to  dip  up  water  tor  the  family  use,  gave  the  only 
opportunity  for  lovers  to  meet.  It  is  true  that  the  daughter  seldom 
or  never  went  alone  to  the  spring,  but  it  holds  as  good  in  the  Indian 
country  as  elsewhere,  that  all  the  world  loves  a  lover,  and  the  chap- 
eroning elder  woman  often  devised  friendly  little  absences,  that  the 
youth  who  had  made  his  presence  known  by  his  song  might  gain  a 
few  words  with  his  sweetheart.  The  scene  was  simple:  the  birds  and 
flowers,  the  morning  glow  and  stirring  breeze  were  the  only  witnesses, 
and  they  would  not  betray  the  lovers.  These  honorable  secret  court- 
ships were  never  talked  of  or  sung  about.  The  veil  of  silence  was 
never  withdrawn  from  these  morning  moments  at  the  spring,  not 
even  if  the  marriage  proved  disastrous  and  the  tie  was  broken. 

But  there  are  songs  that  deal  with  what  are  lightly  called  love- 
affairs,  intrigues  which  were  more  or  less  contrary  to  established  so- 


156         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

cial  order.  The  Omahas  called  these  songs  IVa-oo-wa-an,  or 
woman  songs,  not  that  they  originated  with  women,  or  were  ever 
sung  by  them,  but  because  they  described  experiences  in  which  women 
had  played  a  part,  A  song  of  this  class  was  frequently  composed  by  the 
very  man  who  in  it  recounted  his  own  adventures,  but  he  tells  the 
story  as  though  it  was  the  woman  who  spoke.  Although  the  young 
men  and  old  beaux  who  alTected  these  songs  never  sang  them  in  the 
presence  of  women,  they  were  dreaded  by  the  sex  as  a  sort  of  derisive 
scourge.  These  songs  were  seldom  ribald,  and  sometimes  the  viola- 
tion of  the  social  code  implied  in  the  narrative  would  have  passed  un- 
observed in  any  other  society  than  tribal. 

There  are  humorous  bits  in  some  of  these  songs,  as  in  one  which, 
freely  translated,  gives  the  picture  of  the  gay  youth  sitting  upon  a  hill 
overlooking  the  village  that  is  buzzing  over  his  escapades.  As  the 
murmurs  are  wafted  up  to  him,  he  complacently  throws  all  responsi- 
bility upon  the  gods  who  made  him  as  he  was — irresistible! 

The  IVa-oo-wa-an,  woman  songs,  were  more  fully  supplied 
with  words  than  the  songs  of  any  other  class,  and  are  interesting  as  a 
study  of  the  beginnings  of  ballad-making.  They  are  in  no  sense 
love-songs;  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  courtship  and  are  reserved 
for  the  exclusive  audience  of  men. 

The  true  love-song,  called  by  the  Omahas  Bethae  wa-an,  an  old 
designation  and  not  a  descriptive  name,  is  sung  generally  in  the  early 
morning,  when  the  lover  is  keeping  his  tryst  and  watching  for  the 
maiden  to  emerge  from  the  tent  and  go  to  the  spring.  They  belong 
to  the  secret  courtship  and  are  sometimes  called  Me-tbe-g'thun  wa-an 
— courting  songs,  Me-the-g'thun  signifies  the  act  of  courting  or  woo- 
ing a  woman  to  wed.  They  were  sung  without  drum,  bell  or  rattle, 
to  accent  the  rhythm,  which  in  these  songs  is  subordinated  to  tonality 
and  is  felt  only  in  the  musical  phrases.  The  singer  used  much  liberty 
in  rendering  the  music,  the  time  was  not  strict,  and  the  voice  lingered 
and  died  away  in  the  long  notes.  Vibrations  for  the  purpose  of  giv- 
ing greater  expression  were  not  only  effected  by  the  tremolo  of  the 
voice,  but  they  were  enhanced  by  waving  the  hand,  or  a  spray  of 
artemesia  before  the  lips,  while  the  body  often  swayed  gently  to  the 
rhythm  of  the  song.  This  mode  of  rendering  love-songs  was  in  strong 
contrast  to  the  usual  habit  of  singing  in  exact  time  to  sharply  accent- 
ed rhythmic  beats. 

As  the  tribal  organization  reduced  the  personality  of  a  man  to 
the  minimum,  any  evidence  of  the  activity  of  the  vital  principle  of 


LOVE   SONGS   AMONG  THE  OMAHA   INDIANS.  l57 

individuality  becomes  exceedingly  valuable  wherever  found,  and  these 
love-songs  present  such  evidence.  In  them  we  discern  the  freer  use 
of  tonality,  for  tonality  permitted  a  greater  play  of  personal  feeling 
than  could  be  obtained  through  strong  rhythms,  however  complicated; 
their  flowing  cadences  voiced  a  longing  that  had  made  the  youth  con- 
scious of  his  individuality,  of  his  distinctness  from  the  mass  of  men  in 
his  gens.  This  dawning  consciousness  of  his  individuality  in  the  long- 
ing for  something  not  his  own — an  ideal,  if  you  will — vindicated  the 
stirring  of  the  principle  of  personal  freedom  to  choose  and  to  act. 

Although  there  is  a  marked  subjectivity  in  the  music,  there  is 
also  a  concentration  of  feeling  and  purpose,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
reaching-out  toward  nature,  a  taking  into  his  confidence  of  the  woods, 
the  birds  and  the  sunlight,  in  the  joy  of  his  own  experience.  The 
few  words  in  these  songs  convey  the  one  poetic  sentiment:  "  With 
the  day  I  come  to  you;"  or,  "  Behold  me,  as  the  day  dawns." 

Few  unprejudiced  listeners  will  fail  to  recognize  in  these  'Bethae- 
wa-an,  or  love-songs,  the  emotion  and  the  sentiment  that  prompts  a 
man  to  woo  the  woman  of  his  choice. 


PRIMITIVE  SCALES  AND  RHYTHMS. 

BY  JOHN   COMFORT  FILLMORE. 

I  WISH  to  give  at  this  time  a  resume  of  such  studies  as  I  have  been 
able  to  make  in  the  primitive  music  accessible  at  the  World's 
Fair,  and  a  comparison  of  the  results  of  it  with  those  of  my 
previous  studies.  Perhaps  I  cannot  do  better  than  begin  with  an  ac- 
count of  my  studies  of  the  songs  of  the  Vancouver  Indians,  carried  on 
in  company  with  Dr.  Franz  Boas,  who  has  them  in  charge.  To  his 
kindness,  friendly  sympathy,  scientific  knowledge  and  long  experience 
among  these  Indians  I  owe  whatever  I  have  been  able  to  learn  about 
their  music;  and  I  trust  he  will  further  sympathize  with  me  in  the 
conviction  that  our  combined  eiTorts  have  not  been  without  valuable 
results.  I  begin  with  this  Vancouver  Indian  music  because  it  is  clearly 
of  a  much  more  primitive  type,  much  more  near  the  beginnings  of 
music-making  than  any  Indian  music  which  I  have  heretofore  had 
opportunity  of  studying  at  first  hand,  and  consequently  is  peculiarly 
interesting  from  a  scientific  point  of  view.  I  was  extremely  curious 
to  see  whether  certain  conclusions  which  had  shaped  themselves  in  my 
mind  as  the  result  of  previous  studies  in  folk-music  would  hold  good 
here  also,  or  whether  they  might  have  to  be  modified  by  the  results  of 
study  in  music  of  a  decidedly  more  primitive  type.  It  will  be  best,  I 
think,  to  give  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  this  study  before  say- 
ing anything  about  the  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  it. 

My  first  experience  of  the  music  of  the  Vancouver  Indians  was 
on  the  evening  of  July  7th.  On  that  evening  Dr.  Boas  kindly  in- 
vited a  number  of  us  to  witness  some  dances  of  these  Indians,  accom- 
panied, of  course,  by  singing.  Among  them  was  a  cannibal  dance, 
which  is  certainly  very  old.  From  this  performance  I  carried  away 
some  very  distinct  impressions;  but  I  made  no  notes,  partly  because  I 
could  not,  in  any  case,  write  as  fast  as  the  Indians  could  sing,  partly 
because  I  wished  to  get  the  general  impression  before  studying  details, 
and  partly  because  the  performance  came  at  the  end  of  a  most  ex- 
hausting day  of  extreme  heat  and  constant  tension,  which  hardly  left 
me  strength  for  anything  but  general  impressions.  My  really  serious 
study  of  this  music  began  a  month  later,  on  the  8th  of  August,  when 

158 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES   AND   RHYTHMS.  159 

Dr.  Boas  kindly  procured  me  the  opportunity  to  take  down  at  first 
hand  some  of  the  Vancouver  songs.  The  singers  were  Mr.  George 
Hunt,  the  interpreter,  and  one  of  the  Indians  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  dances  I  had  already  witnessed.  At  my  request,  the  songs  given 
were  very  old  ones.  The  Indians  were  very  patient,  singing  the 
songs  repeatedly  and  giving  us  (Dr.  Boas  was  present  most  of  the 
time)  ample  opportunity  for  correction  and  for  making  sure  that  the 
record  was  as  accurate  as  it  could  be  made.  1  say  "  as  accurate  as 
could  be  made  "  because  the  aberrations  from  pitch  were  so  numerous 
and  often  so  small  in  degree  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  render  them 
perfectly  in  our  musical  notation.  In  this  respect,  my  experience 
was  parallel  to  that  I  had  already  had  among  the  Omahas;  although 
their  music  represents  a  much  more -advanced  stage  of  music-making 
than  that  of  the  Vancouver  Indians. 

The  songs  taken  down  that  day  were  only  three  in  number  and 
were  as  follows: 


-0- ^^111 

-  —r 3i m z a z^ 1 1 1 1- 

So  las  kas 


r-r-ri^-— s^Ejb^'^=^g^^£^ggE^^ 


-4- 


-tr 


lE^^^^^^^ 


=ff^==^=^-^=^=i^=^^^=i=i^^ 


g^      i      !      ^*^    !       I      I      I 


m 


!      !      i^-^ — \ — -, — 4 


+     D?      + 


=^^=1 I— ;— j- 


gii'-— -i:,LZi^g=^=^=^ 


Na    a    nae     ya        ai      ya 
+         D?      + 


ii^^^irrj-s-mwi 


i 


160         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  notation  here  given  represents  approximately,  at  least,  the 
rhythm  of  the  songs;  but  the  singing  was  accompanied  by  rapid  pat- 
ting with  the  hand,  the  pats  being  considerably  more  numerous  than 
the  rhythmical  units  of  the  songs.  Dr.  Boas  and  myself  made  sev- 
eral attempts  to  count  the  pats  in  each  melodic  phrase.  1  found  my- 
self unable,  in  some  phrases  at  least,  to  count  them  twice  alike.  Dr. 
Boas,  who  has  had  long  experience  with  these  Indians,  felt  convinced 
that  there  were  ten  pulses  in  the  song  against  sixteen  beats  with  the 
hand.  I  found  myself  in  doubt,  however,  and  decided  to  postpone 
the  investigation  of  this  problem  until  1  had  solved  another,  which 
seemed  to  me  of  more  pressing  importance. 

This  problem  was:  Do  these  melodies,  notwithstanding  their 
aberrations  from  harmonic  pitch,  really  run  along  harmonic  lines 
or  not? 

On  looking  over  my  notes  the  next  morning,  it  seemed  clear 
enough  that  if  the  Indians  really  meant  to  give  the  first  song  as  I  had 
noted  it,  the  harmonization  of  it  according  to  the  chords  implied  in 
the  melody  was  a  very  simple  matter.  The  first  phrase  implied  two 
chords:  C  major  and  G  major;  the  second  phrase  embodied  the  chord 
of  G  major  pure  and  simple;  so  did  the  fourth  phrase;  the  third  and 
fifth  phrases  implied  the  chords  of  G  and  D  major.  Accordingly,  I 
harmonized  it  thus: 


---1^.-.— gr 


azzK^p=p=i^ 


■» — • — • — • — •- 
I     I     I     I     I 


-t:=t==-t=:t=t 


-15'- 


I 


^- 


r.  ^ 1 c « 1 1 j ] ] — -H — j^ 

r  ^ — ^ — *s 1* — * — * — * — tr~.^ — jrrjC^Xrr 


"sr 


^  ^  ^ 


ipzzszip: 


:^z=^=t=t=r=t=t=t=t=t=t=t=^ 


1  had  already  arranged  with  Dr.  Boas  to  try  the  elTect  of  the 
piano  version  of  the  songs  upon  the  Indians.  Accordingly,  we  took 
advantage  of  the  kindness  of  Mr.  G.  H.  Wilson,  who  offered  us  a 
private  room  in  Music  Hall,  where  we  could  conduct  our  experiments 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES  AND  RHYTHMS.  l6l 

without  fear  of  interruption.  Here  we  took  the  interpreter,  Mr.  Hunt, 
and  another  Indian,  and  I  played  this  song,  with  and  without  the 
chords  here  given.  Dr.  Boas  at  once  dechired  that  he  should  never 
have  suspected  it  to  be  the  same  song  the  Indians  had  sung;  the  In- 
dians themselves  also  failed  to  recognize  it.  They  had  had  no  hint  as 
to  what  song  I  was  to  play.  I  then  asked  the  Indians  to  sing  the  song 
"  So  las  kas,"  etc.,  saying  that  I  would  play  it  with  them.  I  played 
the  harmony  as  they  sang,  and  their  faces  brightened  up  immediately. 
They  had  recognized  the  song  in  its  unfamiliar  tone  quality,  and  ap- 
peared to  enjoy  the  new  experience.  After  repeating  this  once  or 
twice,  I  asked  the  Indians  to  listen  while  1  played  it,  and  tell  me 
whether  1  played  it  exactly  as  they  sang  it,  or  not.  They  assured  me 
that  I  did,  "as  nearly  as  it  could  be  done,"  and  the  most  persistent 
questioning  failed  to  elicit  anything  but  approval  from  them. 

But  a  surprise  was  in  store  for  us.  It  occurred  to  one  of  us  to 
ask  them  to  sing  it  alone,  after  I  had  played  for  them  repeatedly  and 
they  had  approved  my  harmonized  version.  They  did  so,  and  this 
time  they  varied  from  the  version  1  had  noted  down  by  replacing  the 
first  G  in  the  third  and  also  in  the  fourth  phrase  with  an  unmistakable 
F  sharp!  They  did  not  seem  to  be  aware  that  they  had  given  a  differ- 
ent version  from  their  former  one,  but  persisted  in  the  change,  repeat- 
ing it  several  times.  I  then  played  it  with  them,  substituting  the  F 
sharp  for  G  in  the  melody  where  they  did,  but  retaining  the  chord  of 
G,  as  before,  the  F  sharp  being  not  a  harmonic  tone,  but  an  accented 
by-tone.  This  version  they  also  approved,  apparently  without  being 
aware  of  any  change,  and  again  assuring  us  that  I  played  it  exactly 
as  they  sang  it,  "  as  nearly  as  it  could  be  done."  Clearly,  it  was  the 
harmonic  relation  of  the  tones  which  had  the  most  significance  for 
them;  the  incidental  by-tone  was  only  an  embellishment  for  them, 
just  as  it  is  for  us.  All  this  was  in  consonance  with  my  former  ex- 
periences, and  1  had  made  some  hundreds  of  similar  experiments.  A 
song  sung  by  a  white  man  differs  greatly  in  tone  quality  from  the 
same  song  sung  by  another  white  man  or  by  a  white  woman,  and 
still  more  from  the  same  song  played  on  a  piano,  a  violin,  a  flute,  a 
clarionet,  or  an  oboe.  The  Indian  quality  of  voice  differs  greatly 
from  either.  Besides  this,  the  Indian  rarely  sings  as  true  to  pitch  as 
do  white  singers,  and  is  accustomed  to  having  his  songs  obscured  by 
a  vociferous  drum-beat  and  by  other  noises.  I  have  often  found  it 
difficult  to  recognize  an  Indian  song,  which  I  knew  by  heart,  when  I 
heard  Indians  sing  it  in  their  native  habitat  and  with  the  usual  accom- 


162        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

paniments.  This  was  not  because  the  song  was  not  the  same.  What 
makes  a  song  a  song  is  its  tonality,  i.  e.,  the  relation  of  its  successive 
tones  to  its  key-note.  This  is  the  essence  of  music;  all  variations  of 
tone-quality,  wavering  intonation,  etc.,  being  merely  accidents  or  inci- 
dents. But  these  incidental  peculiarities  of  Indian  singing  are  so  prom- 
inent and  striking  that  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  fail  to  recognize  their 
songs  at  first  when  played  on  a  piano.  But  as  soon  as  they  do  see 
that  the  essential  features  of  the  song  remain  unchanged,  they  are  in- 
variably delighted  with  them,  especially  when  they  are  played  with 
their  natural  harmonies. 

It  was  noteworthy  that,  whenever  they  sang  with  the  piano,  ac- 
companied by  the  harmony,  they  invariably  sang  true  to  pitch;  while 
in  their  unaccompanied  singing  the  pitch  was  more  or  less  wavering 
and  uncertain.  All  this,  taken  together  with  my  former  experience 
with  Indians,  seemed  to  me  clearly  to  indicate  that  a  latent  sense  of 
harmony  was  the  determining  factor  in  the  shaping  of  their  melodies; 
that  their  aberrations  from  harmonic  pitch  were  due  not  to  intention, 
but  to  a  lack  of  training  and  the  absence  of  any  standard  of  harmonic 
intervals.  As  soon  as  the  natural  harmony  was  given  with  as  near 
an  approximation  to  correctness  as  our  tempered  tuning  would  allow, 
they  instantly  accepted  it  as  valid,  conformed  their  own  singing  to  it, 
and  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  it. 

A  single  doubt  remained  in  the  mind  of  Dr.  Boas.  The  Indians, 
when  singing  alone,  invariably  struck  the  G  of  the  second  phrase  be- 
low pitch.  Why  should  they  do  this?  If  G  was  really  intended, 
why  should  they  not  hit  it,  at  least  sometimes?  If  the  failure  to  sing 
it  true  to  pitch  was  due  to  lack  of  ear-training,  why  should  they  not 
sometimes  sing  above  it  in  feeling  about  for  it,  instead  of  invariably 
striking  a  quarter  tone  or  thereabouts  below?  In  order  to  test  whether 
they  were  really  trying  to  sing  F  sharp  as  a  harmonic  tone,  I  played 
it,  giving  that  phrase  the  chord  of  B  minor;  but  this  did  not  suit  the 
Indians  at  all,  they  would  have  none  of  it;  whereas,  when  I  played  the 
G  major  chord,  they  were  always  satisfied.  I  could  not  help  thinking 
that  they  really  meant  to  sing  G;  but  I  could  no  more  account  for 
their  striking  it  so  persistently  below  pitch  than  could  Dr.  Boas.  So 
we  separated  with  a  promise  to  consider  the  matter  further. 

Dr.  Boas  was  fortunate  enough  to  solve  the  problem  perfectly 
before  he  had  left  the  Exposition  grounds.  As  he  walked  back  with 
the  two  Indians,  Hunt,  the  interpreter,  who  had  listened  to  our  dis- 
cussion, sang  this  phrase  to  himself,  evidently  trying  to  find  out  what 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES  AND  RHYTHMS.  163 

it  was  that  he  sang,  making,  perhaps,  his  first  attempt  at  analyzing 
his  own  singing.  Soon  he  informed  Dr.  Boas  that  what  he  did  in 
that  doubtful  spot  was  to  strike  below  the  G  and  slide  up  to  it,  just  as 
he  had  done  in  the  third  and  fourth  phrases,  the  only  difference  being 
that  the  by-tone  in  those  two  phrases  was  longer  and  more  emphatic. 
In  fact,  the  by-tone  in  the  place  wiiich  had  puzzled  us  was  so  extremely 
short  that  neither  it  nor  the  G,  to  which  it  was  meant  to  lead,  was  made 
distinct,  the  result  being  a  compromise  tone  varying  from  a  quarter  of 
a  tone  to  something  like  a  comma  below  harmonic  pitch.  This  was 
a  most  unexpected  discovery,  but  an  extremely  satisfactory  one.  It 
settled  the  point  clearly  enough  that  the  melodic  structure  of  that 
phrase  was  built  on  the  lines  of  a  major  chord.  And  it  was  especially 
suggestive  to  me,  as  I  had  never  before  thought  of  this  simple  explan- 
ation as  one  of  the  many  ways  of  accounting  for  the  numerous  ab- 
errations from  harmonic  pitch  which  characterize  most  Indian 
singing. 

So  far  as  this  particular  song  is  concerned,  I  think  we  are  all 
agreed  that  it  runs  on  harmonic  lines.  It  does  not,  indeed,  show  any 
well  developed  sense  of  harmony  or  of  tonality.  The  chord  which 
predominates  in  it  is  the  chord  of  G  major,  and  it  implies  the  two 
chords  related  to  G  as  under-fifth  and  over-fifth  (C  major  and  D 
major),  /.  e.,  the  subdominant  and  dominant  chords.  But  it  neither 
begins  nor  ends  on  the  tonic;  it  begins  with  the  subdominant  and  ends 
with  the  dominant  chord.  But  it  seems  all  the  more  remarkable  that, 
when  the  sense  of  harmony  and  of  tonality  is  so  plainly  elementary, 
the  form  of  the  melody  should  be  determined,  unconsciously  to  the 
Indians  themselves,  by  harmonic  considerations. 

After  giving  so  detailed  an  account  of  our  work  over  this  first 
song,  I  need  not  dwell  on  the  other  two.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the 
results  obtained  were  similar  and  went  to  confirm  the  views  suggested 
by  our  study  of  the  first  one.  No.  2  is  plainly  in  the  key  of  D  major, 
and  every  phrase  of  it  implies  harmony  as  clearly  as  does  any  civilized 
music.  It  is  built  on  the  tonic,  dominant  and  subdominant  chords; 
its  tonality  is  much  more  strongly  marked  than  that  of  No.  1 ;  and  it 
ends  with  the  plagal  cadence  which  I  have  so  often  found  in  the 
Omaha  music  and  elsewhere.  No.  3  is  just  as  clearly  in  the  key  of 
E  minor.  It  certainly  implies  the  tonic  and  dominant  chords,  and  the 
cadence  is  best  made  with  tiie  subdominant  before  the  tonic,  i.  e.,  a 
plagal  cadence.  Although  this  chord  is  not  necessarily  implied  in  the 
melody,  it  makes  the  close  more  natural,  and  is  most  satisfactory  alike 


164 


THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 


to  civilized  and  uncivilized  ears.  All  this  is  directly  in  the  line  of  my 
previous  investigations  in  the  Omaha  music,  and  tends  to  confirm  the 
conclusions  toward  which  those  investigations  seemed  clearly  to  point. 


No.  iJ. 


No.  3. 


gs 


—I H 


i 


b4^ 


-iS- 


-25*- 


-<5i- 


-• — 0- 


-<5^ 


-<S>- 


£: 


\     \     0  *^- 


g^f=f: 


-t^- 


-!•—)•- 


-tS- 


-ff-^- 


-4- 


-&-■ 


-tZ- 


_C2 


^- 


-&- 


:^ 


-IC- 


-f2- 


-KZ- 


^ 


-Ki;- 


-S^ 


-(2_ 


JSZ- 


^: 


-J^- 


f2 ^~- 


42- 


-122- 


-t^- 


-122- 


-K2- 


-&- 


The  most  important  of  these  conclusions  is  the  one  already  sug- 
gested, X7^. ;  that  the  forms  assumed  by  primitive  songs  are  deter- 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES  AND  RHYTHMS,  165 

mined,  unconsciously  to  those  who  make  them,  by  a  latent  sense  of 
harmony.  That,  consequently,  the  question  of  the  scale  on  which 
any  given  song  is  built  is  a  wholly  subordinate  matter  and  really  re- 
solves itself  into  the  question  of  what  is  the  natural  harmony  implied 
or  embodied  in  the  song. 

Let  us,  for  a  moment,  consider  what  scales  we  can  find  in  these 
three  songs,  divesting  ourselves  for  the  time  being  of  all  ideas  as  to 
the  harmonic  relations  of  the  tones.  We  shall  find  that  the  tirst  song 
contains  the  following  tones,  which  I  have  arranged  in  consecutive 
order,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest: 


-i9- 


:^=J^ 


'Z>- 


1 


No.  2  contains  the  following  tones: 


i 


--^^ 


The  tones  in  No.  3  are  as  follows: 


1 


-^     ^ 


i 


II ^^^ 


1 


-KT 


Of  these.  No.  2  is  simply  the  five-toned  major  scale  which  is  the 
common  property  of  all  primitive  races,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
discover.  It  is  the  major  diatonic  scale  with  the  fourth  and  seventh 
omitted.  No.  3  is  the  scale  of  E  minor  with  the  fourth,  sixth  and 
seventh  omitted.  No.  1  is  the  scale  of  G  major  with  only  the  sixth 
omitted. 

Assuming  that  all  these  pitches  were  given  correctly  by  the  Ind- 
ians, our  problem  would  be  to  account  for  these  various  omissions. 
But  if  we  were  to  take  into  account,  as  we  must,  the  numerous  and 
capricious  aberrations  from  scale  pitch,  our  problem  would  become 
hopelessly  complicated.  In  No.  3,  for  example,  the  tones  which  I 
have  marked  with  a  cross  were  seldom  sung  twice  alike.  Sometimes 
they  were  sung  on  the  pitch  1  have  noted,  sometimes  a  full  half-tone 
above  that  pitch,  and  at  various  intervals  between  these  two  extremes. 
Those  I  have  marked  with  a  zero  were  sung  below  pitch;  while  two 
tones  were  sometimes  sung  nearly  a  minor  third  above  the  pitch  here 
given.     Are  we  to  attach  melodic  significance  to  these  aberrations 


166  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

from  scale  pitch?  If  so,  how  shall  we  account  for  their  incessant 
variableness?  And  how  shall  we  account  for  the  further  fact  that, 
when  the  true  pitch  was  given  on  the  piano,  especially  with  the  accom- 
paniment of  the  natural  chords,  the  Indians  invariably  sang  them  true 
to  pitch,  expressed  satisfaction  and  declared  them  correct? 

The  truth  is  that  if  we  think  of  these  songs  from  the  standpomt 
of  scale  exclusively,  we  involve  ourselves  in  a  maze  from  which  it  is 
apparently  impossible  to  extricate  ourselves;  whereas,  if  we  think  of 
them  as  derived  from  chords,  the  sense  of  which  is  a  native  endow- 
ment of  the  human  mind,  but  which  are  imperfectly  apprehended  by 
the  primitive  man  from  lack  of  experience  and  education,  the  whole 
structure  becomes  at  once  perfectly  clear  and  intelligible.  The  hypo- 
thesis of  a  latent  sense  of  harmony  guiding  primitive  music-making 
and  determining  the  form  of  primitive  melodies,  is  a  clue  the  value  and 
certainty  of  which  appear  to  me  more  and  more  clear  the  further  I  go  in 
the  study  of  primitive  music.  Is  it,  then,  an  unscientific  proceeding  to 
accept  this  theory,  at  least  as  a  working  hypothesis?  If  this  explains 
every  one  of  the  facts  thus  far  brought  to  light  (and  these  facts  are  by 
no  means  narrow  in  range),  and  no  other  comprehensible  explanation 
is  offered,  are  we  not  justified  in  accepting  it  as  extremely  probable,  if 
not  absolutely  certain?  Do  we  ever  reach  absolute  certainty  by  the 
process  of  induction,  or  indeed  anywhere  except  in  pure  mathematics? 
Besides  this,  we  are  to  take  into  account  the  fact  that  the  human 
voice,  the  first  musical  instrument  employed  by  man,  is  subject  ^o 
the  physical  laws  of  acoustics;  that  every  tone  a  man  sings  is  com- 
plex and  involves  the  major  chord,  and  that  primitive  man  necessarily 
hears  this  chord  in  every  tone  sung,  although  he  does  not  know  what 
it  is.  Is  it  so  surprising,  then,  that  his  singing  should  run  along  the 
lines  of  the  major  chord  or  of  its  nearest  correlative,  the  minor  chord? 
Whatever  may  be  the  explanation  of  the  fact,  it  is  certainly  true  that 
in  all  primitive  music  I  have  yet  heard  harmonic  tones  predominate, 
and  by-tones  are  as  easily  accepted  as  temporary  substitutes  for  har- 
monic tones  and  as  leaders  to  them  by  the  savage  as  by  the  civilized 
ear.  But  it  is  rather  curious  that  as  a  rule  by-tones  are  chosen  which 
belong  to  the  chords  most  nearly  related  to  the  tonic.  Then  these 
tones  are  used  as  harmonic,  and  the  chords  to  which  they  belong  nat- 
urally fill  out  the  five-toned  to  an  eight-toned  scale. 

I  continued  my  studies  with  the  Vancouver  Indians  for  several 
days,  beginning  Aug.  25th,  during  which  time  I  collected  the  follow- 
ing songs: 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES  AND  RHYTHMS. 


167 


Xo.  4. 


ri# 


i 


sticks. 


-4- 


-a- 


^-al-al- 


H 1- 


-^r-*-ar 


H 1- 


-^-^-g 


4=-f 


:«=* 


Ll^ 


it^= 


-^^ 


^ 


ff^^ 


-g*^ 


3=iC 


^-A 


-*_•- 


J 


-•— #- 


-«s- 


-1^ 


-&- 


-^ 


J 


■•— •- 


S-^^rlT 


I  I 


ff       ff       f- 


^^. 


S 


tt^ 


^ 


.*-*- 
:f^ 


■T 


::fl=i: 


_#__*_ 


-iQ- 


-<s- 


i 


:?=*= 


^-^ — ^- 


-g- 


-^- 


No.  5. 


U   U   U   J 


168 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


tM 


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u  u  u  u   u  u   u 


:t= 


^w-w-*-n- 


_•_•_•_ 


u  u 


No.  6. 


:feS5 


::l=:q: 


^fi& 


fep5 


--^4 


4=:i 


-5-  -m-  -m \-  -0- 

■'   -•-  -•-  -•-  -• 


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PRIMITIVE   SCALES   AND   RHYTHAIS. 


169 


No.  r. 


■&  -r 


Its: 


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t=^ 


9-V^^4^ 


f 


:t:2=j»; 


-  ^  S  S  *  lr-+ 


ir#- 


H h 


♦-#^ 


^        ^ 


• • •- 


fct? • • W- 

-9-^    L    » • •- 


:t^ 


-• — •- 
-• — •- 


-0 — • — 0- 


-m — •- 


-*-*-9. — €- 


-0 — •- 


-# — •- 


No.  4  is  a  man-eating  song  composed  by  Mr.  George  Hunt  on 
the  same  lines  as  the  older  cannibal  songs  and  has  the  scale 


•»- 

-^- 

<2 

^^ 

/•v 

^      1 

i^J' 

\^^ 

The  harmony  of  this  and  of  all  these  songs  has  been  approved  by 
him  after  experimenting  with  different  chords.  It  is  curious  that  he  in- 
sists on  the  dominant  seventh  chord  for  the  close.  There  are  only 
three  chords:  tonic,  subdominant  and  dominant  (with  and  without 
the  seventh). 

No.  5  has  the  familiar  five-toned  scale  of  the  Scotch  or  Irish 
melodies.  It  is  a  song  of  the  Chomox  Indians,  at  the  south  end  of 
Vancouver  Island.  Mr.  Hunt  told  me  it  was  particularly  enjoyed  by 
the  Indians  under  his  charge,  and  no  wonder,  for  it  is  more  melodious 
than  the  other  songs  and  more  smoothly  harmonious.  It  has  the  same 
three  chords  as  No.  4. 

No.  6  is  a  song  of  the  Nass  River  Indians  in  British  Columbia. 
This  tribe  lives  on  tidewater.  It  has  the  major  scale  without  the 
fourth,  and  the  same  three  chords,  employing,  however,  some  sharply 
dissonant  accented  by-tones. 

No.  7  is  a  song  of  the  Nass  River  Indians  of  the  interior,  above 
tidewater.  It  embodies  the  tonic  chord  in  B  flat  minor,  using  B  flat 
as  a  by-tone  and  adding  A  flat  to  the  tonic  chord  in  the  tirst  meas- 
ure. Mr.  Hunt  insisted  on  this  harmonization  and  would  be  satisfied 
with  no  other.  This  adding  of  a  minor  seventh  to  the  tonic  chord  is 
paralleled  by  cases  in  the  songs  of  our  American  negroes,  cited  by  Mr. 


170        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Krehbiel  in  his  paper  at  the  Folk-lore  Congress  on  the  5th  of  July, 
and  also  in  the  Dahomey  songs.  The  scale  of  this  song  is  the  five- 
toned  minor.  It  is  noticeable  that  in  Nos.  4  to  7  Mr.  Hunt  sang  true 
to  harmonic  pitch,  without  the  usual  wavering.  He  was  greatly  de- 
lighted with  the  harmonized  version  of  the  songs,  when  played  on  the 
piano. 

It  will  be  seen  that  each  of  these  songs  embodies  a  major  or 
minor  scale,  omitting  one  or  more  tones,  and  omitting  sometimes  one 
and  sometimes  another,  on  no  obvious  principles. 

The  clue  to  the  harmonic  principle  implied  in  primitive  melody 
was  first  afforded  me  by  Miss  Alice  C.  Fletcher.  She  had  long  been 
engaged  in  studying  the  songs  of  the  Omaha  Indians,  and  informed 
me  of  the  very  curious  and,  as  I  now  believe,  very  significant  fact  that 
those  Indians,  when  their  songs  were  played  on  a  piano  or  organ,  were 
never  satisfied  with  the  mere  song,  but  required  the  addition  of 
chords.  As  our  joint  study  of  those  songs,  with  a  collection  of  nearly 
a  hundred  of  them,  is  now  accessible  in  the  monograph  recently  pub- 
lished by  Harvard  University,  I  will  confine  myself  on  this  occasion 
to  a  few  illustrative  examples.  Here  is  a  song  (No.  42  a  of  the  Har- 
vard collection)  which  actually  embodies  the  whole  dominant  seventh 
chord  in  its  first  phrase,  and  its  remaining  phrases  are  as  clearly  har- 
monic as  this.  Is  it  a  scientific  proceeding  to  ignore  this  fact?  No. 
41  is  totally  unintelligible  if  looked  at  merely  from  the  standpoint  of 
scale  formation,  but  is  perfectly  comprehensible  when  regarded  as  the 
product  of  harmony  and  modulation.  It  begins  in  the  key  of  B  flat 
major,  goes  into  E  flat  in  the  sixth  measure,  into  F  in  the  ninth  meas- 
ure, and  ends  in  C.  No.  56  is  equally  decisive.  The  A  flat  in  the 
fourth  measure  is  explainable  as  a  harmonic  tone,  the  under  major 
third  of  C,  and  not  otherwise.  And  let  it  be  remembered  that  all 
these  harmonizations  have  been  repeatedly  submitted  to  Indian  criti- 
cism and  have  been  heartily  approved,  over  and  over  again. 

But  these  examples  must  suffice,  for  this  paper  is  becoming  un- 
conscionably long.  I  will  merely  add  that  my  study  of  the  music  of 
the  South  Sea  Islanders,  the  Dahomeyans,  the  Javanese  and  the  Chi- 
nese, so  far  as  it  has  gone,  confirms  the  conclusions  reached  in  my 
study  of  the  Omaha  music  and  of  the  Vancouver  songs.  It  is  all 
plainly  harmonic  in  character. 

The  conclusions  I  have  reached  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as 
follows: 

1.  Scale  is  a  wholly  subordinate  matter. 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES   AND   RHYTHMS.  171 

2.  The  central  thing  in  tonality,  which  is  absolutely  indispensable 
to  unity  in  any  music,  however  primitive,  is  not  scale,  but  tonic  chord, 
major  or  minor. 

3.  The  five-toned  major  and  minor  scales,  which  are  found  all 
over  the  world,  among  races  the  most  diverse  in  blood,  in  customs 
and  in  habitat,  invariably  embody  the  tonic  chord,  with  one  tone 
each  of  the  two  fifth-related  chords,  the  dominant  and  the  subdomi- 
nant. 

4.  There  is  no  primitive  music  without  tonality,  and  this  tonality 
is  determined  by  the  tonic  chord. 

5.  The  five-toned  scale,  whether  major  or  minor,  is  developed 
into  the  common  eight-toned  diatonic  scale  by  the  process  of  filling 
out  the  dominant  and  subdominant  chords. 

6.  Chromatic  and  other  aberrations  from  the  diatonic  scale  are 
usually  to  be  accounted  for  on  harmonic  grounds-  but  they  are  some- 
times by-tones  arising  from  various  causes. 

7.  Wavering,  uncertain  intonation,  among  primitive  as  among 
civilized  men,  is  generally  due  to  defective  ear  or  to  imperfect  musical 
training;  but  is  sometimes  occasioned  by  excess  of  emphasis  in  emo- 
tional expression  and  sometimes  by  the  blending  of  a  by-tone  with  its 
principal,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Vancouver  song^already  cited. 

8.  The  sense  of  a  tonic  chord  and  of  its  nearest  related  chords, 
however  dim  and  uncertain  it  may  be,  is  universal. 

9.  The  spontaneous  efforts  to  express  emotion  in  ones,  which  re- 
sult in  folk-music,  always  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance;  and  that 
line  is  a  harmonic  line. 

II.     RHYTHMS. 

Rhythms  are,  for  the  most  part,  either  twos  or  threes,  or  simple 
multiples  of  twos  or  threes.  Primitive  music,  so  far  as  1  have  yet 
studied  it,  follows  this  general  rule  in  the  main,  but  shows  numerous 
and  frequent  departures  from  it  in  the  directions  of  irregularity  and 
complexity.  The  simplest  irregularity  of  rhythm  I  have  yet  found  is 
where  an  occasional  measure  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  funda- 
mental rhythms  is  interpolated  in  a  song  built  on  the  opposite  one. 
Thus,  for  example,  the  beautiful  Mekasee  song.  No.  59  of  the  Har- 
vard collection,  which  is  in  2-4  time,  has  a  single  measure  of  three 
beats  in  the  second  part.  This  song  also  affords  an  admirable  exam- 
ple of  syncopation,  /.  e.,  the  crossing  of  the  regular  meter  by  the 
rhythmical  grouping  of  the  melodic  motives.  Thus  the  first  and  each 
succeeding  phrase  of  the  song  begins  on  the  second  half  of  the  metri- 


172        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

cal  pulse  and  is  prolonged  to  the  middle  of  the  next  beat.  Both  the 
mixing:  of  twos  and  threes  and  the  syncopation  are  extremely  frequent 
in  the  Omaha  music,  as  any  one  may  see  by  examining  it;  indeed, 
Omaha  songs  which  do  not  exemplify  one  or  the  other  are  excep- 
tional. 

Besides  the  mixing  of  twos  and  threes  in  the  manner  above  de- 
scribed, it  is  very  common  for  the  Omahas  to  combine  a  double  and 
triple  rhythm  simultaneously.  A  majority  of  the  songs  of  the 
Haethuska  society  have  a  double  drum-beat  against  a  triple  rhythm  in 
The  song.  As  the  song  is  almost  always  more  or  less  syncopated,  the 
result  is  a  complication  of  rhythms  such  as  would  puzzle  any  but  a 
thoroughly  trained  musician  of  our  own  race.  Nos.  17  and  21  of  the 
Harvard  collection  are  examples. 

But  the  Omahas  do  not  confine  themselves  to  the  double  and 
triple  rhythms,  either  simple  or  compound,  separate  or  combined. 
There  are  frequent  examples  of  fives  combined  with  fours,  as  in  No. 
41.  No.  74  is  a  very  curious  example  of  fives  followed  by  threes, 
further  complicated  by  syncopation.  It  begins  with  five  drum-beats, 
the  song  beginning  a  half-pulse  before  the  drum-beat  and  grouping  it- 
self in  two  short  phrases  of  five  half-beats  each.  The  remainder  of 
the  song  is  in  plain  6-8  rhythm. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  Omaha  music  represents  or  rather  em- 
bodies a  rich  variety  and  complexity  of  rhythm.  In  both  these  re- 
spects, indeed,  it  excels  most  of  our  civilized  music  by  a  great  deal. 
Our  most  elaborate  compositions  for  orchestra  have  no  rhythms  more 
difficult  or  more  complex  than  have  these  short  songs;  and  our  pop- 
ular music  is  incomparably  simpler  in  rhythm  than  is  the  popular 
music  of  the  Omahas.  All  this  rich  variety  and  complexity,  too,  is 
reached  without  the  aid  of  any  theory  of  rhythm;  it  is  all  free  and 
spontaneous.  Indians  will  beat  two  and  sing  three  in  a  measure  for 
an>  length  of  time  with  the  most  perfect  ease  and  freedom. 

But  the  complicated  rhythms  of  which  I  have  spoken  are  not  con- 
fined to  tribes  as  far  advanced  as  are  the  Omahas.  The  cannibal 
song  of  the  Vancouver  Indians  has  also  a  two  against  a  three;  but  it 
differs  from  the  same  rhythm  among  the  Omahas  in  that  it  has  a 
double  rhythm  in  the  song  against  a  triple  drum-beat;  and  further,  the 
triple  rhythm  of  the  drum  has  two  beats  and  a  rest.  The  single  drum 
was  accompanied  by  striking  sticks  on  planks,  done  by  all  the  singers. 
Here,  then,  is  a  phenomenon  not  easy  to  account  for.  This  Vancouver 
music  plainly  belongs  to  a  lower  grade  of  development  melodically 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES   AND   RHYTHMS. 


173 


than  does  that  of  the  Omahas,  but  the  rhythm  is  even  more  dit^lcult. 
For  it  is  much  easier  to  comprehend  how  the  Omahas  reached  their 
double  drum-beat  with  its  simple  rebound  when  they  were  singing  a 
song  with  a  triple  rhythm,  than  how  the  Vancouver  Indians  came  to 
beat  a  triple  rhythm  on  a  plank,  and  even  interspersed  beats  with  rests, 
when  they  were  singing  a  song  with  a  pronounced  double  rhythm.  1 
have  already  referred  to  the  exceedingly  dii^icult  rhythm  of  the  Van- 
couver song  (No.  1)  referred  to  in  the  tlrst  part  of  this  paper.  I  have 
two  or  three  times  succeeded  in  beating  this  accurately  with  Mr.  Hunt, 
and  made  out  two  beats  against  each  unit  of  the  song.  At  other  times 
1  became  confused,  as  did  Dr.  Boas,  and  neither  he  nor  I  can  as  yet 
account  for  the  dit^iculty. 

The  following  song  (No.  8)  was  borrowed  by  the  Vancouver 
Indians  from  the  Bala  Balas,  a  tribe  about  half  way  between  Van- 
couver and  Alaska.  The  tlrst  part  of  it  is  mainly  beaten  in  plain  syn- 
copations, with  an  interruption  beginning  with  the  eleventh  full  meas- 
ure. The  second  part,  however,  has  a  drum-beat  of  five  counts  to 
the  measure,  the  second  and  fifth  being  rests,  against  a  plain  2-4  in 
the  song.  This  I  found  a  most  perplexing  and  dittlcult  rhythm  to 
transcribe,  and  Mr.  Hunt  told  me  that  the  Indians  themselves  had  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  with  it : 

BALA  BALA  INDIAN  SONG. 


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174 


THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


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The  Vancouver  songs  show  the  same  mixing  of  rhythms  as  the 
Omaha  songs.  The  natural  phrasing  of  No.  5  would  group  the  units 
(quarter-notes)  into  measures  of  four,  three  and  two.  No.  6  I  have 
noted  as  6-8  and  9-8;  i.  e.,  the  measures  have  some  two  and  some 
three  dotted  quarters.  No.  5  has  fives  and  fours.  The  rhythms  of 
the  South  Sea  Islanders  and  at  the  Javanese  theater  are  comparatively 
simple.  The  most  complicated  rhythms  it  has  been  my  fortune  to 
hear  are  those  of  the  orchestra  at  the  Dahomey  village.  This  orches- 
tra contained  seven  drums  of  ditferent  sizes,  five  bells  and  a  pair  of 
rattles.  I  have  heard  there  one  bell  beating  in  triple  time,  another 
beating  four  equal  tones  against  the  three  of  the  first  one,  the  rattles 
four,  the  big  drums  six,  but  divided  into  two  *hrees,  not  three  twos, 
while  the  other  drums  and  bells  syncopated  aga:nst  them,  it  seemed 
evident,  also,  that  many  of  these  compi'icaticns  were  improvised.  I 
watched  them  for  hours,  and  often  5xed  my  attention  for  awhile  on  a 
single  player.  The  man  with  the  rattles,  for  example,  would  be  beat- 
ing a  straight  two  against  the  three  of  the  big  drum  and  would  keep 


PRIMITIVE   SCALES  AND  RHYTHMS.  175 

on  rather  listlessly  for  some  time;  then  he  would  liven  up  of  a  sudden 
and  indulge  in  some  complicated  syncopations,  when  he  would  settle 
back  into  a  steady  two  again.  On  such  occasions  he  would  look 
around  at  me  as  1  perched  on  the  rail,  note-book  in  hand,  and  wink 
and  grin,  or  perhaps  gutfaw.    Others  played  similar  pranks. 

All  this  would  seem  to  indicate  that  rhythm  is  the  tirst  aesthetic 
element  to  be  developed  in  the  evolution  of  music.  It  is  natural  that 
it  should  be  so.  The  rhythm  of  the  dance,  of  the  war-drum,  even 
the  rhythmic  swaying  of  the  mother's  body  as  she  croons  to  her  child, 
naturally  precede  the  development  of  any  fine  perception  of  ditierences 
in  pitch,  of  tone-quality,  or  of  tonality.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising 
that  rhythm  should  not  only  be  sooner  evolved  than  any  other  musi- 
cal element,  but  also  that  it  should  be  developed  to  a  high  pitch  of 
complexity,  and  be  much  more  sharply  and  clearly  detlned  than  pitch 
or  quality  of  tone.  It  seems  to  be  the  one  esthetic  element  which 
gives  most  pleasure  to  the  untaught  aborigine;  the  remaining  ones  are 
developed  much  more  slowly,  and  are  much  less  clearly  defined, 
mainly  owing,  I  think,  to  the  absence  of  any  well  defined  standards  of 
pitch  or  tone-quality.  In  the  melodies,  as  distinguished  from  the 
complicated  rhythms  of  the  drum-beats,  the  striking  characteristic  is 
the  motivt\ation,  the  rhythmic  type  of  the  phrases  which  constitute 
the  models  out  of  which  each  song  is  constructed.  For  almost  all,  if 
not  all,  Indian  songs  are  as  strictly  developed  out  of  modified  repe- 
titions of  a  motive  as  are  the  movements  of  a  Mozart  or  a  Beethoven 
symphony.  Having  invented  his  original  motive,  which  is  commonly 
striking  in  its  rhythmic  form  and  highly  characteristic,  the  Indian  com- 
poser proceeds  to  build  his  song  out  of  modified  repetitions  of  this 
motive  with  an  instinctive  regard  for  the  aesthetic  requirements  of 
unity,  variety,  symmetry,  contrast  and  climax,  especially  the  first 
three,  which  have  often  excited  my  admiration  and  have  made  the 
study  of  Indian  songs  a  most  delightful  and  fascinating  occupation. 
Plainly  enough,  these  requirements  are  founded  in  the  nature  of  things; 
and  what  philosophers  have  formulated  after  many  centuries  of  intel- 
lectual culture  the  aboriginal  composer  discovers  intuitively  for  him- 
self, and,  without  formulating  any  rules  in  words,  follows  them  as 
obediently  as  if  he  had  been  educated  in  the  most  advanced  of  our  great 
music  schools.  Thus  the  study  of  primitive  music  opens  to  us  a  most 
attractive  vista  into  a  realm  of  mental  activity  as  yet  comparatively 
unexplored,  and  one  which  promises  to  be  fruitful  in  results,  especially 
in  its  bearing  on  the  evolution  of  the  aesthetic  sense. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES. 

BY   STEPHEN   D.   PEET. 

THE  person  who  first  made  known  the  mysteries  of  the  so-called 
"medicine  lodge"  was  the  celebrated  painter  George  Catlin. 
He  visited  the  Mandans  in  1832,  and  was  permitted  to  witness 
the  religious  ceremony  called  okeepa.  He  painted  the  scene  in  four 
pictures.  They  were  the  first  pictorial  representations  ever  made  of 
the  esoteric  work  of  an  Indian  medicine  lodge.  They  were  his  glory, 
but  proved  his  misfortune.  His  description  was  discredited,  and 
doubts  were  cast  upon  all  his  work  as  a  painter.  These  interfered 
with  the  sale  of  his  gallery  in  France,  and  even  in  the  United  States. 
Prince  Maximilian  of  Weid,  a  year  after  Catlin's  visits,  spent  a  winter 
among  the  Mandans  and  obtained  a  view  of  the  ceremonies,  which 
confirmed  his  account  of  them.  The  object  of  this  ceremony,  accord- 
ing to  Catlin,  was  threefold:  First,  the  celebration  of  the  event  of 
the  "settling  of  the  waters;"  second,  the  observance  of  the  dance 
which  would  insure  to  them  the  coming  of  buffaloes,  which  would 
supply  them  with  food;  third,  the  conducting  of  the  young  men  of  the 
tribe  through  an  ordeal  of  torture,  by  which  they  were  initiated  into 
the  position  of  warriors.  This  latter  part  of  the  scene  was  revolting, 
for  it  was  attended  with  great  suffering,  but  it  showed  the  endurance 
of  the  young  men.  The  following  is  Catlin's  description  of  the  med- 
icine lodge: 

"Around  the  walls  were  hung  the  shields  and  bows  of  the  chiefs,  and  a 
mystery  thing,  resembling  a  tortoise  or  frog,  placed  on  a  platform  in  the  center 
On  the  floor  were  four  sacks,  in  the  form  of  large  tortoises,  which  contained 
water  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world.  Besides  these  there  were  some 
drums  and  buffalo  heads.  As  the  ceremony  proceeded,  there  were  gath- 
ered on  the  outside  of  the  lodge  other  symbolic  objects.  First,  the  curb  or 
cyHnder  called  the  big  canoe.  Around  this  were  eight  men  covered  with  the 
entire  skins  of  buffalos,  horns,  hoofs  and  tails  remaining  on,  their  bodies  in  a 
horizontal  position,  while  they  were  looking  out  of  the  eyes  as  through  a  mask, 
all  of  them  imitating  the  actions  of  the  buffalo  in  a  singular  pantomime.  Each 
had  in  his  right  hand  a  rattle,  a  slender  staff  in  his  left  hand,  a  lock  of  buffalo 
hair  around  his  ankles,  a  bunch  of  willow-boughs  on  his  back.  Their  bodies 
were  painted  white,  red  and  black,  according  to  the  points  of  the  compass. 
Eight  men,  in  pairs,  surrounded  the  canoe,  to  represent  the  four  cardinal  points. 
Between  these,  alternating  with  them,  were  four  young  men,  to  represent  the 

176 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  177 

four  quarters  of  the  sky,  two  of  them  painted  black  with  white  spots,  symbol- 
izing the  firmament,  or  night,  and  the  stars;  two  painted  red  with  white  streaks, 
to  represent  the  day  and  the  ghosts  which  the  morning  rays  were  chasing  away. 
Near  the 'big  canoe'  were  two  men  with  skins  of  grizzly  bears  thrown  over 
them,  who  seemed  to  symbolize  the  divinities^  which  were  to  be  appeased,  as 
food  was  ofl'ered  to  them;  also  two  other  men, 'whose  bodies  were  painted  black 
and  heads  white,  who  represented  bald  eagles.  They  were  continually  grasping 
the  food  that  was  offered  to  the  bears,  but  were  chased  away  by  a  hundred  boys 
with  bodies  painted  yellow  and  heads  white,  called  antelopes.  On  the  fourth 
day  a  strange  character  appeared  among  them,  his  body  painted  black,  with 
white  rings  over  him,  bearing  in  his  hand  a  long  staff  with  a  red  ball  at  the  end 
of  it.  He  personified  the  evil  spirit,  the  mischief-maker.  He  was  held  in  check 
by  the  medicine  man,  and  was  defeated  through  the  virtue  of  the  medicine  pipe. 
The  initiation  of  the  warriors,  etc.,  began  after  this.  An  inch  or  more  of  flesh 
on  each  shoulder  and  breast  was  taken  up  between  the  thumb  and  finger,  and  a 
skewer  was  forced  through,  cords  were  fastened  to  the  skewer,  and  the  body 
was  drawn  up  by  the  cords  and  suspended  in  the  air,  the  weight  of  the  body 
drawing  upon  the  muscles.  Occasionally  the  skull  of  a  buffalo  was  placed  upon 
the  arms  and  legs,  increasing  the  weight.  The  bodies  were  then  turned  faster 
and  faster,  until  the  agony  could  not  be  borne  longer  and  the  candidate  ceased 
his  struggling  and  hung  apparently  a  lifeless  corpse.  He  was  then  let  down,  and 
the  body  was  dragged,  with  the  buffalo  skulls  and  other  weights  attached  to 
the  flesh,  in  a  circle  around  the  big  canoe,  until  the  weights  were  disengaged  by 
tearing  out  the  flesh.  This  was  called  '  the  last  race.'  Each  young  man  was 
dragged  till  he  fainted,  and  was  left  nearly  dead,  until,  by  the  aid  of  the  great 
spirit,  he  was  able  to  rise  and  stagger  through  the  crowd  to  his  wigwam." 

This  view  of  the  initiation  of  warriors,  given  by  the  celebrated 
painter  some  sixty  years  ago,  reveals  to  us  something  of  that  extensive 
system  of  sacred  mysteries  which  ii  now  known  to  have  prevailed  among 
nearly  all  the  aborigines.  The  view  was  supplemented  at  the  time  by 
Schoolcraft's  descriptions  of  the  Mida  songs,  and  has  from  time  to 
time  received  additions  from  various  writers,  so  that  now  it  is  pretty 
well  known  that  an  esoteric  system  prevailed  which  may  be  compared 
to  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  East,  and  which  constituted  the  secret 
societies  of  the  aborigines. 

Among  persons  who  in  recent  times  have  awakened  popular  atten- 
tion to  the  subject,  and  written  upon  it  are  the  following:  Mr. 
Frank  Gushing,  who  was  initiated  into  the  secret  societies  of  the 
Zunis  and  in  1883  conducted  a  party  of  them  through  Eastern  cities, 
and  finally  went  down  into  the  waters  of  the  great  sea  at  Nahant  and 
was  there  baptized  and  received  into  the  secret  organization.  After 
him  Dr.  Washington  Matthews  gave  to  the  public  a  beautiful  descrip- 
tion of  the  sacred  ceremonies  of  the  Navajos,  and  of  the  dry  paintings 
which  constituted  a  part  of  the  ceremonies,  and  a  translation  of  the 


178  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

wonderful  mountain  chant,  with  all  its  imagery  and  poetry,  which 
seemed  like  the  echoes  of  the  mountains.  Captain  R.  G.  Bourke  has 
also  published  an  account  of  the  snake  dance  among  the  Moquis  and 
an  explanation  of  its  dilTerent  parts.  Mrs.  M.  C.  Stevenson  has  pub- 
lished two  legends  of  the  weird  and  curious  snake  drama  celebrated  by 
the  snake  order  at  Zuni.  She  has  shown  that  the  snake  society  is  a 
cult  organization,  of  three  divisions  or  orders.  She  has  also  described 
a  tlute  ceremonial  which  is  a  dramatization  of  the  migration  of  the 
flute  people.  Miss  Alice  Fletcher  has  lived  among  the  Dacotahs  and 
has  been  permitted  to  see  the  most  sacred  rites  and  ceremonies  of  this 
people.  Her  descriptions,  with  those  of  Rev.  J.  O.  Dorsey,  show 
that  there  are  many  secret  societies  among  this  people.  Dr.  Franz 
Boas  has  described  the  customs  of  the  Alaskans  and  many  of  the 
northern  tribes,  and  has  shown  that  there  are  many  societies  among 
them,  some  of  which  require  that  a  person  should  be  born  into  them 
to  be  a  member.  Later  than  this,  Mr.  Walter  Fewkes  has  visited  the 
Zunis  and  witnessed  various  ceremonies. 

The  investigation  of  the  sacred  mysteries  and  secret  societies  of 
the  native  tribes  is  still  going  on.  A  large  amount  of  literature  has 
already  accumulated;  still  more  is  awaiting  publication.  Enough  has 
been  published  already  for  us  to  dra  w  a  comparison  between  them 
and  to  show  what  general  principles  were  embodied  in  them.  This 
we  propose  to  do. 

1.  Our  first  question  will  be:  Was  there  a  general  organization 
which  spread  from  tribe  to  tribe,  or  did  the  different  societies  arise 
among  the  tribes  separately  and  distinct.?  In  answering  this,  we  shall 
go  back  to  the  time  of  the  early  explorers  and  examine  their  testi- 
mony. 

When  Ferdinand  De  Soto  traversed  the  regions  of  the  Gulf  States 
there  was  enmity  between  the  Florida  tribes  and  the  tribes  of  Georgia, 
Alabama  and  Mississippi,  for  two  or  three  stocks  or  families  of  Indians 
dwelt  there.  When  Marquette  and  the  French  missionaries  traversed 
the  regions  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  passed  through  the  portages  to 
the  Mississippi  River,  they  found  enmity  between  the  various  tribes, 
for  the  great  Algonquin  race  had  crowded  down  between  the  Iroquois 
and  the  Dacotahs,  leaving  three  stocks  or  races  for  these  voyagers  to 
traverse.  When  Coronado  passed  from  the  great  mountain  lake 
of  the  Aztecs,  in  Mexico,  and  marched  with  his  cavalcade  through  the 
arid  wastes  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  until  he  reached  the  plateaus 
where  were  the  "  seven  cities  of  Cibola,"  the  sedentary  tribes  and  the 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND   SACRED  MYSTERIES.  179 

wild  tribes  were  at  war.  The  Moquis  and  Zunis  were  obliged  to  pro- 
tect themselves  from  their  lurking  foe,  the  Apaches,  who  had  come 
down  upon  them  from  the  north.  It  was  not  likely  that  at  that  time 
any  one  organization  or  select  order  extended  through  the  entire  con- 
tinent, for  the  tribes  were  too  widely  scattered,  and  those  who  were  in 
proximity  were  too  hostile  for  this.  But  as  time  went  on  and  other 
changes  took  place,  and  the  old  hostilities  in  a  measure  ceased,  the 
intruding  tribes  from  the  north  became  adjusted  to  the  new  surround- 
ings, and  as  the  ancient  tribes  became  reconciled  to  their  presence,  there 
was  a  rapid  interchange  of  customs.  The  ditTerent  tribes  borrowed 
from  one  another  religious  ceremonies  and  symbols,  and  especially 
dancing  steps  and  rites  at  feasts.  It  seems  probable,  then,  that  the 
societies  and  sacred  mysteries  originated  among  the  separate  tribes  and 
that  they  existed  in  certain  separate  centers,  and  that  they  embodied  in 
themselves  separate  and  distinct  religions,  and  exhibit  customs  and 
myths  which  were  peculiar  to  the  distinct  tribes.  In  fact,  the  secret 
societies  contain  within  themselves  those  signs  or  tokens  by  which  we 
may  trace  out  the  history,  origin  and  character  of  the  separate  tribes. 
This  becomes  plain  as  we  enter  more  minutely  into  the  study  of  the 
symbols  and  the  colors  and  customs  of  the  different  societies.  Still 
there  is  a  certain  class  of  symbols  which  are  recognized  every- 
where and  which  must  have  been  transmitted  from  tribe  to  tribe,  or 
borrowed  from  a  common  source.  The  resemblance  of  certain  sym- 
bols to  those  which  are  found  in  all  oriental  countries  makes  the  latter 
supposition  plausible. 

1.  There  is  a  class  of  symbols  which  could  be  easily  transmitted 
and  which  would  be  very  expressive  and  easily  understood,  namely,  the 
symbol  of  the  cross,  suastika,  the  serpent,  the  bird,  the  circle,  cres- 
cent, scroll,  the  hand,  the  arch,  the  face,  which  symbolize  respectively 
the  weather,  the  fire,  lightning,  thunder,  sun,  moon,  whirlwind,  sky, 
and  Manitou. 

2.  There  were  certain  other  symbols,  which  prevailed  in  certain 
art  centers  or  areas,  having  come  from  the  suggestiveness  of  nature, 
but  the  origin  of  which  is  uncertain.  Among  these  we  class  the  turret 
or  stepped  figure,  which  was  a  Pueblo  symbol;  the  tortoise,  or  turtle, 
which  was  common  among  the  Eastern  Indians;  the  human  tree  figure, 
which  was  known  among  the  Mound-builders  and  the  Mayas;  the 
man  eagle,  which  was  also  a  Mound-builder  symbol.  These  sym- 
bols are  very  common  throughout  the  continent,  but  are  not  univer- 
sally distributed.     They  were  local  in  their  use,  if  not  in  their  origin. 


180         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

3.  A  third  class  of  symbols  might  be  mentioned,  which  were 
purely  aboriginal  and  entirely  local  in  their  use.  Under  this  class  the 
conventional  figures  found  in  the  pictographs  or  rock  inscriptions 
might  be  placed.  Also  those  animal  figures  which  were  convention- 
alized by  the  different  tribes,  and  which  had  the  tribal  stamp  upon 
them,  illustrations  of  which  are  found  among  the  Haidah  totems, 
which  are  carved,  tattooed  and  woven,  and  are  always  recognized  as 
Haidah  work. 

4.  With  these  symbols  the  dances  may  be  mentioned.  Mr.  L. 
H.  Morgan  says  that  dancing  was  a  form  of  worship  among  the  Am- 
erican aborigines.  "  Every  tribe  has  from  ten  to  thirty  set  dances, 
each  with  its  own  name,  songs,  steps  and  costume.  Particular  dances 
are  the  special  property  of  a  gens  or  society."  Still,  he  says:  "  The 
dances  of  the  Dacotahs,  Crees,  Ojibwas  and  Pueblos  are  the  same  in 
general  character,  steps,  plan  and  music.  There  is  one  system 
throughout  the  Indian  tribes,  which  bears  a  direct  relation  to  their 
system  of  faith  and  worship."  *  There  is  no  doubt  that  even  since 
the  advent  of  the  white  man  there  has  been  a  great  mingling  of  the 
tribes  and  interchange  of  dances,  and  there  is  some  evidence  that  there 
was  formerly  an  interchange  between  the  tribes  of  the  continent  and 
distant  races,  for  in  comparing  the  dances  of  the  Haidahs  with  those 
of  the  South  Sea  Islanders,  at  the  Exposition  grounds,  we  recognize 
more  resemblance  between  them  than  between  either  of  these  and  the 
dances  of  the  Pottowotamies  and  the  Eastern  Indians. 

This  review  of  the  symbols  and  customs  of  the  different  tribes 
will  convince  us  that  the  secret  societies  were  not  the  branches  of  one 
order,  but  were  different  in  their  origin,  and  embodied  different  sys- 
tems, those  of  the  hunter  tribes  of  the  north  having  embodied  the  ani- 
mal worship  which  prevails  among  them;  those  of  the  agricultural 
tribes  of  the  south  having  embodied  the  sun  worship  common  there; 
those  of  the  village  Indians  of  the  west  the  sabeanism  or  sky  worship, 
the  symbols  being  mainly  those  of  the  elements.  The  sacred  mys- 
teries among  the  civilized  tribes  of  the  southwest  embodied  the  elab- 
orate system  of  personified  nature  powers,  under  the  semblance  of 
anthropomorphic  divinities.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  study  of  the 
symbols  and  myths  of  each  tribe,  and  by  comparing  them  with  one 
another,  for  by  this  means  we  may  ascertain  what  elements  were  bor- 
rowed and  what  were  original  with  the  tribes.    The  imagery  in  which 

*See  /Indent  Society,  p.  116. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  I8l 

the  myths  are  clothed  will  also  be  very  suggestive  to  us.    The  records 
will  prove  the  most  valuable. 

II.  The  study  of  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  separate  tribes  will 
next  engage  our  attention. 

1 .  Let  us  begin  with  the  mysteries  which  are  supposed  to  have 
prevailed  among  the  tribes  of  the  Gulf  States.  These  were  the  first  to 
be  brought  to  light,  but  they  are  at  present  the  least  known.  The  in- 
formation which  we  have  is  drawn  from  such  travelers  as  Bartram 
and  Adair,  who  were  hardly  aware  that  there  were  secret  societies. 
Their  descriptions  of  the  customs,  when  examined  in  connection  with 
the  various  symbolic  relics  which  have  been  preserved  from  prehistoric 
times,  convince  us  there  were  many  sacred  mysteries  and  that  an 
elaborate  symbolism  prevailed. 

We  learn  from  them  that  there  were  dances,  and  feasts  of  which 
the  busk  was  the  chief;  that  everything  was  full  of  symbolism,  even 
the  rotunda,  council-house,  public  square,  manner  of  lighting  the  fire, 
of  receiving  and  entertaining  strangers,  the  form  or  manner  in  which 
the  people  were  seated,  the  manner  of  distributing  the  black  drink  in 
the  conch-shells,  the  manner  of  smoking  the  sacred  pipe,  otfering  the 
smoke  first  to  the  sun,  afterward  to  the  four  cardinal  points,  lastly  to 
the  white  visitors.  The  council-house  was  divided  into  two  apart- 
ments. The  back  apartment  was  reached  by  openings,  or  holes, 
scarcely  large  enough  for  a  man  to  crawl  in  upon  his  hands  and  knees. 
This  secluded  place  appears  to  have  been  designed  as  a  sanctuary,  dedi- 
cated to  religion  or  priestcraft.  The  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace,  and 
the  imperial  standard  were  kept  here.  The  walls  of  this  building  ni 
front  were  decorated  with  various  paintings  and  sculptures,  supposed 
to  be  hieroglyphic,  and  the  pillars  supporting  the  front,  were  formed 
in  the  likeness  of  vast  speckled  serpents  climbing  upwards.  The  busk, 
or  feast  of  first  fruits,  was  their  principal  festival.  At  this  feast  all 
the  old  worn-out  clothes,  remaining  grain  and  refuse  were  consumed 
by  fire.  The  fire  was  then  extinguished  and  lighted  anew  from  the 
central  fire.*  The  rotunda  corresponds  to  the  kiva  or  estufa  of  the 
Zunis.  It  was  much  more  private  than  the  council  house;  women  and 
youths  were  never  admitted  to  it.  The  vigils  and  vespers  and  mystical 
fire  in  this  rotunda  were  extremely  singular,  in  the  center  was  a  great 
pillar  and  a  spiral  circle  of  fagots,  turning  from  right  to  left,  extending 
to  the  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  feet  from  the  center.     The  exterior 


*  See  Bartram's  Travels,  pp.  233,  267,  449,  507. 


182         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

extremity  of  the  spiral  circle  takes  fire,  which  slowly  creeps  around, 
following  the  course  of  the  sun,  feeding  on  the  fagots  till  the  circle  is 
consumed.  The  council  lasts  as  long  as  the  fire  lasts.  We  see  from 
this  that  symbolism  prevailed  among  the  southern  tribes,  namely,  the 
symbolism  of  nature  worship.  The  yearly  festivals  and  the  com- 
memoration of  the  first  fruits  were  noticed  by  Bartram.  The  sacred 
fire  was  kept  ever  burning,  as  it  was  in  the  temple  of  Vesta,  and  was 
a  symbol  of  the  national  life.  There  were  keepers  of  the  faith  among 
the  various  tribes,  and  occasionally  vestal  virgins  resembling  those  of 
Rome.  The  thought  that  arose  with  Adair,  the  Indian  agent,  was  that 
there  was  a  great  resemblance  between  these  feasts  and  ceremonies  and 
religious  customs  and  those  of  the  Jews.  From  this  arose  the  theory 
that  the  Indians  were  the  "  lost  tribes,"  and  whole  books  were  written 
to  show  the  analogies.  These  analogies  consisted  ( 1)  in  the  division 
into  tribes,  the  names  of  the  clans  being  drawn  from  animals,  as  were 
those  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  the  totems  here  being  the  wild  animals, 
the  eagle,  wolf,  bear,  while  among  the  Israelites  they  were  the  lion, 
serpent,  hind.  (2)  The  existence  of  clan  elders  and  the  resemblance 
between  the  position  of  these  elders  and  the  heads  of  the  houses  among 
the  Israelites.  (3)  It  was  maintained  that  the  American  Indians, 
especially  the  Cherokees  and  Choctaws,  had  representations  of  cher- 
ubim in  their  places  of  worship.  (4)  The  existence  of  prophets  was 
dwelt  upon,  and  the  name  prophet  was  given  to  some  of  the  orators 
and  leaders,  a  name  which  was  perpetuated  and  attached  to  the  great 
Shawnee  prophet  in  the  time  of  Tecumseh,  and  to  the  prophet  who 
was  the  companion  of  Black  Hawk.  ( 5)  It  was  maintained  that  the 
southern  Indians  carried  about  an  ark,  or  sacred  vessel,  which  resem- 
bled the  ark  of  the  Jews. 

This  analogy  between  the  customs  of  the  Indians  and  the  Israel- 
ites has  been  treated  in  recent  times  by  scientific  men.  It  was  made 
the  subject  of  an  address  before  the  American  Association  by  one  of 
the  vice-presidents.  Col.  Garret  Mallory.  He  maintained  that  the 
Jews,  after  the  days  of  Moses,  up  to  the  times  of  David  and  the 
Kings,  were  in  the  state  of  zoolatry  or  animal  worship,  similar  to  that 
of  the  southern  Indians.  They  persisted  in  the  worship  of  animal 
gods,  the  golden  calf,  brazen  serpent,  the  fish  god  and  the  fly  god. 
The  second  commandment  was  directed  against  the  worship  of  the 
demons  of  earth,  air  and  water.  The  God  of  Sinai  was  a  god  of 
storm  and  lightning.  The  ancient  local  god  of  the  Canaanites  began, 
in  the  exodus,  to  alTect  the  religious  concepts  of  the  Israelites.     Along 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  183 

with  the  beast  worship  the  totemism,  the  special  cult  of  tribes,  clans 
and  individuals,  was  tutelar.  They  identified  Jahveh  as  the  tutelar 
god  of  the  entire  nation.  Besides  this,  the  association  of  a  divinity 
with  localities,  such  as  caves,  mountains,  rocks,  trees,  the  places  where 
remarkable  occurrences  had  been  noted,  and  where  dreams  and  visions 
had  been  given,  were  designated  by  pillars,  exactly  as  the  place  of  the 
fasting  of  individuals  was  among  the  Indians,  marked  by  a  pile  of 
stones.  The  pillar  of  Bethel  is  compared  to  the  Dacotah  stone  heaps 
or  piles  of  buffalo  skulls.  This  is  without  any  foundation  whatever, 
for  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Moses  were  far  in  advance  of  any  known 
American  race  in  all  their  religious  notions  and  symbols.  Recent  dis- 
coveries show  that  the  art  of  writing  was  known  long  before  the  ex- 
odus, even  at  the  time  that  Abraham  was  in  Chaldea,  four  hundred 
years  before.  The  Egyptologists  and  Assyriologists  show  that  religi- 
ous symbolism  had  gone  beyond  anything  known  to  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  matriarchy  among  them, 
but  there  was  in  fact  a  remarkable  system  of  patriarchy,  which  was 
radically  distinct  from  matriarchy.  While  they  were  in  the  tribal  state, 
they  had  tribal  leaders  who  were  the  heads  of  houses  and  commanders 
of  the  army.  The  division  of  the  territory  was  according  to  tribes, 
but  there  was  property  in  severalty.  There  was  landed  estate  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  Greeks  under  Kleisthenes,  If  the  comparison  had 
been  drawn  between  the  secret  societies  of  the  Indians  and  some  of 
the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Egyptians  and  Greeks,  such  as  the  Eleu- 
sinian  mysteries,  which  embodied  a  type  of  nature  worship,  it  would 
have  been  far  more  suggestive,  for  these  myths  and  symbols  concern- 
ing creation,  resurrection,  light  and  darkness  and  other  processes  of 
nature  became  also  the  symbols  of  the  progress  of  the  soul-course  of 
life,  new  birth,  spiritual  existence  and  future  state.  None  of  these 
symbols  were  used  by  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  the  exodus,  though  they 
seem  to  have  become  a  common  inheritance  among  pagan  nations. 
There  is  more  resemblance  between  these  and  the  myths  and  symbols 
which  prevailed  among  some  of  the  native  tribes  of  America,  such  as 
the  Zunis  and  Moquis,  and  the  wonder  is,  how  came  these  analogies 
to  appear  among  peoples  who  were  so  remote  from  one  another 
in  time  and  place.     This  is  the  special  inquiry. 

Externally,  the  societies  were  very  different,  yet  many  things 
were  held  in  common  among  them.*    This  we  can  explain  on  the 

*  There  was  a  tribal,  or  a  tribal  mii^ratini;  symbol  which  diiTered  witli 


184        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ground  that  nature  worship  was  everywhere  similar.  The  same  relig- 
ious conceptions  might  arise  under  the  same  circumstances,  the  concep- 
tion of  resurrection  after  death,  new  birth,  the  soul  separate  from  the 
body,  restoration  of  the  soul  to  the  body,  all  appearing  in  the  Zunis, 
Moquis  and  other  tribes  exactly  as  they  existed  among  the  Egyptians. 
We  find  no  such  conceptions  among  the  tribes  of  the  Gulf  States,  for 
sun-worship  pure  and  simple  prevailed  among  them.  Whatever  other" 
symbols  they  had  were  the  symbols  of  nature:  frogs,  symbolizing  the 
water;  the  serpent,  the  lightning;  the  bird,  the  thunder;  the  circle,  the 
sun;  the  square  figure,  the  four  quarters  of  the  sky. 

2.  The  sacred  mysteries  among  the  Cherokees  are  as  remarkable 
as  those  of  the  tribes  of  the  Gulf  States.  One  advantage  in  studying 
these  is  that  there  were  records  kept  among  them,  which  have  been 
recently  brought  to  light.  The  ancient  symbols  of  the  tribe  were  pre- 
served in  this  way,  and  sometimes  the  traditions  and  myths.  Mr. 
Mooney  says  that  in  all  tribes  that  retain  anything  of  their  ancient  or- 
ganization we  find  this  sacred  knowledge  committed  to  the  keeping 
of  the  various  secret  societies,  each  of  which  has  its  peculiar  ritual, 
with  regular  initiation  and  degree  of  advancement. 

Another  advantage  in  studying  the  symbols  of  the  Cherokees  is 
that  they  were  accustomed  to  build  mounds  and  sites  for  town  houses 
as  memorials  of  certain  ceremonies.  In  building  the  mound,  a  fire 
was  first  kindled  on  the  surface;  around  the  fire  was  placed  a  circle  of 
stones,  on  the  outside  of  which  were  placed  the  bodies  of  prominent 
men,  one  from  each  gens.  With  the  bodies  was  buried  a  translucent 
stone,  the  horn  of  a  horned  serpent,  a  feather  from  a  mythic  hawk, 


the  different  tribes.  With  the  Pawnees  and  other  tribes  it  was  a  sacred 
bundle.  With  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  the  leaning  pole  was  the 
symbol,  but  with  other  tribes,  which  were  wtdely  separated,,  the  shell  was  the 
guiding  star.  It  was  not  always  the  same  shell.  The  Florida  Indians  used  the 
conch-shell,  one  sacred  to  the  sea.  The  Chippewas  of  Lake  Superior  used  the 
cowrie-shell,  the  Dacotah  tribes  the  clam-shell,  about  nine  inches  long.  Tht^ 
Cherokees  used  the  terrapin  shell.  The  tradition  was  that  the  shell  with  its 
iridescent  light  had  led  the  different  tribes  throughout  their  entire  history.  It 
became  obscured  and  its  light  was  darkened,  but  again  shone  forth,  like  a  star, 
above  the  waves,  and  led  the  people  in  their  wanderings,  as  the  ark  led  the  Isra- 
elites through  the  wilderness.  There  may  have  been  other  things  which  were 
common  to  the  southern  tribes  and  the  northern  hunter  tribes,  such  as  the 
number  four,  the  thunder  bird,  the  cardinal  points,  the  fire  generator,  but  this 
one  of  the  shell  is  as  conspicuous  as  any,  for  there  is  no  especial  significance  in 
the  shell. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  185 

a  feather  from  the  golden  eagle,  and  beads  of  seven  colors.  A  hollow 
cedar  log,  to  serve  as  a  chimney  or  air-hole,  was  placed  above  the  fire, 
the  mound  built  up  around  it.  Upon  this  the  town-house  was  built. 
The  mouth  of  the  fire-pit  was  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  of  the  town- 
house.  The  fire  was  in  charge  of  a  firemaker  and  was  never  allowed 
to  go  out,  but  was  always  kept  smoldering.  A  new  fire  at  the  annual 
feast  was  kindled  from  this  fire-pit.  All  the  fire  in  the  ditlerent  houses 
was  obtained  from  the  firemaker  at  the  town-house.  The  roof  of  the 
town-house  was  covered  with  earth  and  ran  up  to  a  point  from  the 
circumference,  the  eaves  coming  down  almost  to  the  ground  outside 
of  the  wall.  The  drummer  at  the  dance  or  feast  walked  around  this 
roof  in  spiral  fashion,  just  as  the  Aztec  priest  ascended  the  great  pyr- 
amid. Here,  then,  we  have  the  lodge,  or  kiva,  in  which  the  sacred 
mysteries  were  observed,  with  the  symbols  of  nature  worship, 
described  by  tradition,  and  at  the  same  time  preserved  in  an  earthwork. 

3.  The  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Delawares  were  as  remarkable  as 
those  of  the  Cherokees.  There  were  also  records  among  them. 
These  were  kept  on  sticks  Ax  inches  in  length,  tied  up  in  bundles. 
The  custom  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Delawares.  The  early  travelers 
found  them  among  the  southern  tribes,  and  they  were  familiar  to  the 
Iroquois.  The  Chippewas  also  used  them.  They  were  covered  with 
devices  and  symbols,  which,  according  to  Schoolcraft,  were  called 
kepnewin,  for  those  in  common  use,  and  heknozcin,  for  those  con- 
nected with  the  mysteries  and  the  Mida  worship.  The  most  re- 
markable record  was  that  contained  in  the  Waliim-Olum  or  red-score. 
The  discovery  of  this  was  made  by  Rafinesque,  the  antiquarian,  but 
published  by  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton.*  It  contains  the  creation  myth  and 
the  story  of  the  migration  in  pictorial  language.  Of  this  creation 
myth  Dr.  Brinton  says:  "The  general  outline  is  similar  to  European 
oriental  myths.  It  was  not  derived  from  them,  nor  acquired  by  mis- 
sionary influence,  but  the  similarity  is  due  wholly  to  the  identity  of 
psychological  action,  the  same  ideas  rising  from  similar  impressions  in 
New  as  in  Old  World  ideas." 

The  secret  societies  of  the  Delawares  have  not  been  described,  so 
that  we  have  to  take  it  for  granted  that  this  record  was  not  only  a 
transcription  of  the  creation  myth,  but  embodied  in  itself  the  sub- 
stance of  the  ceremonies  and  symbols  which  were  employed  in  the 


*  Mr.  E.  G.  Squier  read  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society  a  transla- 
tion published  in  the  North  /itnencan  Reviru-  in  lcS49. 


186        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

mysteries.  The  turtle  or  tortoise  is  always  a  symbol  of  the  earth 
among  the  Algonquin  tribes.  The  rabbit  or  the  hare  is  the  symbol  of 
the  sun  or  dawn.  The  story  is  that  in  the  beginning  there  was  naught 
but  water  and  sky,  but  at  length  a  woman,  the  common  mother,  des- 
cended from  the  sky.  She  alighted  on  the  back  of  a  turtle,  which  be- 
came an  island  and  afterward  grew  to  the  main  land.  This  story  is 
found  among  the  Mohawks  and  Pottowottamies  as  well  as  among  the 
Iroquois  and  Delawares.*  Many  tribes  had  vague  myths  of  a  journey 
from  beyond  the  sea.  The  Shawnees  possessed  a  vague  migration 
myth,  that  in  the  remote  past  they  arrived  at  the  main  land  after 
crossing  the  wide  water.  The  legend  was  repeated  annually  and  a 
sacrifice  offered  in  memory  of  the  safe  arrival.  They  had  a  mythical 
and  historical  chant  which  resembled  that  of  the  Chippewas.  Gallatin 
says  that  there  were  four  clans  among  the  Shawnees,  named  Chilli- 
cothe,  Piqua,  Kiskapocoke  and  Mequachake.  To  the  last  clan  was 
given  the  office  of  preserving  the  sacred  records  and  of  conducting  the 
religious  ceremonies.f 

4.  The  most  complete  record  of  any  secret  society  is  the  one 
which  is  given  in  the  Mida  songs  of  the  Chippewas.  These  Mida 
songs  have  been  described  by  Schoolcraft,  but  have  been  recently 
studied  anew  by  Dr.  W.  J.  Hoffman. 

Schoolcraft  described  at  considerable  length  the  Mida  songs  which 
prevailed  among  the  Ojibwas,  and  has  given  the  pictographs  contain- 
ing the  songs.  J 


*  See  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  Canadian  Institute;  "Ti^hcoizh"  by  Mrs. 
Eastman;  Records  of  a  Tourist,  by  Charles  Lanman. 

f  Gallatin'' s  Synopsis,  p.  110. 

X  In  these  pictographs  is  the  medicine  lodge,  filled  with  the  presence  of  the 
great  spirit,  who  has  come  down  to  be  present  at  the  ceremonies.  A  candidate 
for  admission,  crowned  with  feathers,  holding  an  otter-skin  pouch,  with  the 
wind  gushing  out  of  one  end.  Then  a  mark  for  a  pause  during  which  the  feast 
is  prepared,  a  man  holding  a  dish  in  his  hand  representing  the  master  of  the 
feast.  A  lodge  in  which  the  Mida  men  are  assembled.  The  arm  of  the  priest 
or  master  of  ceremonies.  The  goods  oflfered  as  a  fee  of  admission.  The  Mida 
tree.  No.  8,  with  the  root  that  supplies  the  medicine.  The  medicine  bag,  in  the 
shape  of  a  stuffed  crane,  which  is  used  in  the  dance.  An  arrow  in  the  circle  of 
the  sky.  The  celestial  hemisphere,  with  a  symbol  of  the  great  spirit,  or  Mani- 
tou,  over  it.  The  Wabeno  tree,  a  stick  to  beat  the  drum.  An  Indian  walking  on 
the  sky.  The  great  spirit  filling  all  space  with  his  beams.  A  drum,  tambourine, 
raven,  crow,  medicine  lodge,  master  of  the  society.    The  celestial  hemisphere. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  l87 

The  result  of  personal  investigations  among  the  Ojibwas,  con- 
ducted during  the  years  1887,  1888  and  1889,  shows  that  School- 
craft's statements  were  in  the  main  correct,  though  the  metaphorical 
coloring  was  used  by  him  in  a  manner  which  now  seems  absurd,  and 
metaphysical  expressions  are  attached  to  the  symbols  which  could 
have  never  been  used  by  the  savages.  He  says  that  there  are  three 
classes  of  mystery  men,  the  Wabeno,  the  Jessakkid  and  the  Mide. 
The  Wabeno  are  men  of  the  dawn,  or  eastern  men.  They  give  their 
feasts  at  night,  and  sing  and  dance  and  are  boisterous,  and  by  the  use 
of  plants  are  able  to  take  up  red-hot  stones  and  burning  brands,  and 
bathe  their  hands  in  boiling  water,  and  so  are  called  fire-handlers,  or 
dealers  in  fire.  The  Jessakkid  is  a  seer  and  prophet,  or  juggler,  and 
called  a  revealer  of  hidden  truths.  The  exorcism  of  demons  is  the 
chief  pretension.  Communion  is  held  with  a  turtle,  and  through  him 
with  the  manitous  and  the  thunder-bird.  His  incantations  are  private, 
in  a  lodge  which  sways  violently  from  side  to  side  and  is  filled  with 
loud  thumping  noises  and  numerous  voices  and  laughter,  denoting  the 
arrival  of  the  manitou.  The  Medawin  is  the  grand  medicine  society. 
Its  origin  is  buried  in  obscurity.  Mr.  Warren  says  that  in  the  Medawe 
rite  is  incorporated  most  that  is  ancient  among  them,  and  by  it  are 
perpetuated  the  purest  and  most  ancient  idioms  of  their  language.  It 
is  based  upon  traditions  pertaining  to  the  cosmogony  and  genesis,  and 
is  looked  upon  by  the  Indians  as  containing  their  religion.  This  so- 
ciety is  graded  into  four  separate  and  distinct  degrees,  though  one  de- 
gree is  practically  only  a  repetition  of  the  others.  The  following  is 
the  myth  on  which  it  was  founded: 

"  Minabozho,  the  servant  of  Dzhe  Manido,  beheld  human  beings,  the  an- 
cestors of  the  Ojibwa.  They  occupied  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth.  He  saw 
how  helpless  they  were  and  desired  to  give  them  the  means  of  warding  off  the 
diseases  with  which  they  were  constantly  afflicted,  and  to  provide  them  with 
animals  and  plants  to  serve  as  food,  and  with  other  comforts.  Minabozho  re- 
mained thoughtfully  hovering  over  the  center  of  the  earth,  endeavoring  to  de- 
vise some  means  of  communicating  with  them,  when  he  heard  something  laugh 
and  perceived  a  dark  object  appear  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  which,  after 
appearing  in  the  west,  and  reappearing  in  the  north,  east  and  south,  he  observed 
slowly  approaching  the  center  of  the  earth,  when  he  descended  and  saw  that  it 
was  the  otter,  now  one  of  the  sacred  manitous  of  the  Midewiwin.  Then  Mina- 
bozho instructed  the  otter  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Midewiwin,  and  gave  him  at 
the  same  time  the  sacred  rattle  to  be  used  at  the  side  of  the  sick;  the  sacred 
Mida  drum  to  be  used  during  the  ceremonial  of  initiation  and  at  sacred  feasts, 
and  tobacco,  to  be  employed  in  invocations  and  in  making  peace.  The  place 
where  Minabozho  descended  was  an  island  in  the  middle  of  a  large  body  of  wa- 
ter, and  the  Mide  who  is  feared  above  all  others  is  called  Minisinoshkwe  (He- 


188         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

who-lives-on-the-island).  Then  Minabozho  built  a  Midewigan  (sacred  Mida 
lodge)  and,  taking  his  drum,  he  beat  upon  it  and  sang  a  Mida  song,  telling  the 
otter  that  Dzhe  Manido  had  decided  to  help  the  people,  that  they  might  always 
have  life  and  an  abundance  of  food  and  other  things  necessary  for  their  com- 
fort. Minabozho  then  took  the  otter  into  the  Midewigan  and  conferred  upon 
him  the  secrets  of  the  Midewiwin,  and  with  his  Mida  bag  shot  the  sacred  migis 
into  his  body,  that  he  might  have  immortality  and  be  able  to  confer  these 
secrets  to  his  kinsmen.  The  mtgis  is  considered  the  sacred  symbol  of  the  Mide- 
wigan, and  may  consist  of  any  small  white  shell,  though  the  one  believed  to  be 
similar  to  the  one  mentioned  in  the  above  tradition  resembles  the  cowrie." 

The  following  is  the  explanation  of  the  chart: 

"  The  large  circle  at  the  right  side  of  the  chart  denotes  the  earth  as  beheld 
by  Minabozho,  while  the  otter  appeared  at  the  square  projections  at  Nos.  l,  2, 
3,  and  4.    The  semi-circular  appendages  between  these  are  the  four  quarters 
of  the  earth,  which  are  inhabited  by  the  Anishinabeg,  Nos.  5,  6,  7  and  8.    Nos. 
9  and  to  represent  two  of  the  numerous  serpent  manitous,  who  endeavor  to 
prevent  entrance  into  the  sacred  structure  and  mysteries  of  the  Midewiwin_ 
The  oblong  squares  Nos.  11  and  12  represent  the  outline  of  the  first  degree  of 
the  society,  the  inner  corresponding  lines  being  the  course  traversed  during 
initiation.    The  entrance  to  the  lodge  is  directed  toward  the  east,  the  western 
exit  indicating  the  course  toward  the  next  higher  degree.     The  four  human 
forms  at  Nos.  13,  14,  l5  and  16  are  the  four  officiating  Mida  priests.    Each  is 
represented  as  having  a  rattle.    Nos.  17,  IS  and  19  indicate  the  cedar  trees,  one 
of  each  of  this  species  being  planted  near  the  outer  angles  of  a  Mida  lodge.  No. 
20  represents  the  ground.    The  outline  of  the  bear  at  No.  21  represents  the 
Makwa  Manido,  or  bear  spirit,  one  of  the  sacred  Mida  manidos,  to  which  the 
candidate  must  pray  and  make  offerings  of  tobacco,  that  he  may  compel  the 
malevolent  spirits  to  draw  away  from  the  entrance  to  the  Midewigan,  which  is 
shown  in  No.  28.     Nos.  23  and  24  represent  the  sacred  drum  which  the  candi- 
date must  use  when  chanting  the  prayers.    Nos.  30,  31,  32,  33  and  34  are  five 
serpent  spirits,  evil  manidos,  who  oppose  a  Mide's  progress,  though  after  the 
feasting  and  prayers,  directed  to  the  Makwa  Manido,  have  by  him  been  deemed 
sufficient,  the  four  smaller  serpent  spirits  move  to  either  side,  and  the  larger 
serpent  raises  its  body  in  the  middle,  so  as  to  form  an  arch,  beneath  which  the 
candidate  passes  on  his  way  to  the  second  degree.    Nos.  35,  36,  46  and  47  are 
four  malignant  spirits  which  guard  the  entrance  to  the  second  degree.    Seven 
Mida  priests  are  represented  by  Nos.  39,  40,  41,  42,  43,  44  and  45,  while  the 
figure  48  shows  that  supernatural  powers  are  given  to  the  candidate.    The  lines 
extending  upward  from  the  eyes  signify  that  he  can  look  into  futurity;  from  the 
ears,  that  he  can  hear  what  is  transpiring  at  a  great  distance;  from  the  hands, 
that  he  can  touch,  for  good  or  for  evil,  friends  and  enemies  at  a  distance,  while 
the  lines  extending  from  the  feet  show  that  he  can  traverse  all  distance  and  ac- 
complish his  desires.     The  figure  No.  53  denotes  that  the  candidate  personates 
the  bear  seated  before  his  sacred  drum.    The  serpent,  No.  54,  now  arches  its 
body,  and  beneath  it  he  crawls  and  advances  toward  the  door,  No.  55,  the  third 
degree.  No.  56,  where  he  encounters  four  panther  spirits,  Nos.  57,  58,  59  and  60, 
who  are  special  guardians  of  the  third-degree  lodge.  No.  77  signifies  his  ability 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  189 

to  grasp  from  the  invisible  world,  and  to  accomplish  extraordinary  deeds.  No. 
78  personates  the  bear  spirit.  He  chants  prayers,  to  enter  the  fourth  degree. 
The  chief  opponents  are  the  panther  spirits,  Nos.  80,  82,  S3  and  84.  Other  bad 
spirits  are  about  the  structure:  bears,  88;  panthers,  91;  lynx,  97;  human  beings. 
No.  95.  In  the  fourth  degree  the  candidate.  No.  98,  is  endowed  with  the  power 
of  reading  thoughts,  to  call  forth  the  soul.  He  is  covered  with  the  sacred  shells. 
He  can  practice  jugglery.  Extending  from  the  fourth  degree  is  an  angular 
pathway.  No.  99,  showing  that  his  path  is  beset  with  dangers.  He  may  possibly 
deviate  from  the  course  of  propriety,  symbolized  by  the  projecting  lines.  No. 
100.  The  ovoid  figure  No.  lOl  signifies  the  end  of  the  path,  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  the  end  of  his  existence.  Above  the  fourth  degree  is  the  ghost 
lodge,  within  which  are  the  spirits  of  the  departed.  No.  113  represents  the  owl 
passing  from  the  Midewigan  to  the  place  of  the  dead,  on  the  pathway  of  the 
dead.  No  114.  We  see  in  this  chart  the  symbols  which  preserved  the  tradi- 
tions of  creation  of  the  world,  the  course  of  human  life  and  the  safe  passage 
through  the  intercession  of  the  good  spirits  in  answer  to  prayers;  the  serpent 
lifting  itself  up  and  making  an  arch;  the  endowment  of  supernatural  gifts;  the 
final  end  of  the  world;  the  departure  into  the  ghost  lodge,  or  the  lodge  of  the 
spirits.  A  most  remarkable  system  of  natural  religion,  with  many  high 
thoughts— and  yet  all  under  the  control  of  the  Jessakkids,  and  subordinate  to 
their  jugglery.  The  conceptions  remind  us  of  the  sacred  mysteries  which  were 
prevalent  in  the  east,  butj  the  animal  symbols  and  imagery  are  purely  ab- 
original." 

5.  The  secret  societies  of  the  Iroquois  are  not  so  well  known. 
The  Iroquois  were  made]  up  of  five  dit^erent  tribes,  which  were  in- 
creased to  six  and  seven,  the  Tuscaroras  and  the  Missesagas  having 
been  adopted  into  the  confederacy.  This  was  an  arbitrary  brother- 
hood, for  the  Hurons, -which  belonged  to  the  same  stock,  were  ex- 
cluded. The  Eries  and  Neuters  were  absorbed  and  lost  their  individ- 
uality. The  evidence  is,  then,  that  the  national  organization  of  the 
Iroquois  was  not  based  upon  the  ties  of  kindred,  but  was  based  upon 
an  arbitrary  and  artificial  brotherhood  which  grew  out  of  their  sys- 
tem of  totemism.  The  phratries  of  the  different  tribes  bore  the  same 
names,  and  had  the  same  emblems,  and  could  claim  protection  and 
kinship,  but  could  not  intermarry.  The  members  of  the  same  tribe 
could  intermarry,  but  they  must  belong  to  different  clans  and  have 
different  totems.  They  constituted  an  artificial  brotherhood,  which 
had  signs  and  countersigns  resembling  those  of  modern  secret  so- 
cieties. Mr.  Horatio  Hale  ascribes  this  to  the  associative  instinct. 
He  says: 

"The  guilds  of  the  middle  ages,  the  Masonic  and  other  secret  brotherhoods; 
religious  and  political  parties,  are  all  manifestations  of  the  associative  instinct, 
but  here  the  Iroquois  founders  took  advantage  of  the  clan  system  and  made  an 
artificial  brotherhood,  the  tie  of  which  was  as  strong  as  that  which  binds  a  Free- 


190        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

mason  of  Berlin  to  a  Freemason  of  New  Orleans.  This  brotherhood  came  from 
the  original  totem  system  and  cannot  be  ascribed  to  anj'  known  founder,  though 
there  was  a  human  founder  for  the  Iroquois  confederacy.  The  confederacy  un- 
doubtedly grew  out  of  the  preceding  system.  The  chief  work  of  Hiawatha,  the 
law-giver,  was  mainly  to  extend  the  totem  system  through  the  five  tribes  and 
to  maTce  a  council-house  or  a  long  house,  which  should  combine  the  council- 
houses  of  the  clans  and  tribes  into  one.  The  brotherhood  then  was  more  of  a 
political  organization  than  religious,  though  there  was  an  air  of  religion  about  it." 

Mr.  Hale,  in  a  private  letter,  says  that  it  seems  very  probable  that 
there  were  secret  societies  among  the  Iroquois,  as  there  were  among 
the  other  stocks,  but  they  have  not  been  studied.  It  was  a  custom 
among  all  the  wild  tribes  to  make  one  clan  very  prominent,  and  in 
some  cases  to  consign  to  the  same  clan  or  another  the  care  of  all  relig- 
ious affairs.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  Shawnees,  when  they  were 
in  Ohio.  The  Onondagas  were  chosen  by  the  Iroquois  as  the  tribe 
to  which  the  long  house  was  committed,  they  being  the  most  central 
of  all  the  tribes.  The  sacred  records  of  the  Iroquois  have  been  pre- 
served and  have  been  published  under  the  name  of  the  "Book  of 
Rites."  This  is  not  the  record  of  any  secret  society,  but  is  more  like 
the  records  which  a  chief  or  a  monarch  would  make  at  the  time  of  his 
inauguration.  It  is  the  record  of  the  ceremonies  which  took  place  at 
the  death  of  a  member  of  the  chief  council  house  and  the  inaugura- 
tion of  a  new  member.  It  is  called  "  The  Book  of  the  Condoling 
Council,"  as  it  is  full  of  mourning  over  the  death  of  a  chief.  It  has 
also  been  called  "  The  Iroquois  Veda."  We  shall  not  find  in  this  book 
any  account  of  sacred  mysteries,  as  we  do  in  the  case  of  the  Ojibwa 
Mida  songs,  nor  do  we  find  in  it  as  elaborate  symbolism  as  we  do  in 
Catlin's  pictures  of  the  Mandan  ceremony.  Its  style  is  quiet  and  sub- 
dued and  reminds  us  of  the  character  of  that  remarkable  man,  who 
has  been  regarded  as  the  culture  hero  of  the  Iroquois,  Hiawatha. 

6.  The  secret  societies  of  the  Dacotahs  were  more  numerous  and 
more  marked  than  those  of  the  Iroquois.  Some  of  these  were  mere 
social  societies,  others  were  designed  for  sacred  mysteries.  We  find 
among  the  Dacotahs  the  care  of  the  sacred  pipes,  sacred  songs  and 
tribal  records  was  committed  to  one  particular  clan.  It  was  looked 
upon  as  sacrilege  for  others  to  sing  these  songs.  The  keepers  of  the 
sacred  tents  belonged  to  the  "  hanga"  gens.  There  were  also  sacred 
or  mysterious  men  among  the  Omahas.  These  were  reverenced  by 
all  men.  They  were  governors  of  the  tribe  and  were  counted  as  gods. 
There  were,  however,  several  dancing  societies,  called  Hecucka.  One 
of  these  was  composed  of  such  as  had  distinguished  themselves  in  war. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  191 

and  boys  whose  fathers  were  chiefs.  The  name  of  the  principal  so- 
ciety was  Wacicka.  It  existed  under  ditferent  names  in  many  tribes, 
the  Omahas,  Chippewas,  and  the  Dacotahs.  They  held  a  dance  in 
the,  spring  of  the  year.  A  sacred  bag  was  given  to  the  candidate. 
None  but  members  could  take  part  in  the  dance.  Four  days  were 
spent  in  the  secrets  of  initiation.  The  otter-skin  bag  was  the  chief 
symbol.  The  Icugci  dance  was  conducted  by  the  society  of  those  who 
have  the  translucent  stones.  Small  white  stones  were  the  symbols. 
The  bulfalo  dance,  wolf  dance,  the  grizzly  bear  dance,  the  black  bear 
dance  are  conducted  by  the  societies  of  those  who  have  supernatural 
communication  with  buffaloes,  wolves,  grizzly  bears,  black  bears.  In 
these  some  or  all  of  the  dancers  wear  the  skins  of  these  various  ani- 
mals. The  ghost  dance  is  conducted  by  those  who  have  supernatural 
communication  with  ghosts.  The  "  hakuna  "  dance,  which  was  a  sort 
of  courting  society,  was  held  in  a  large  earth  lodge,  in  the  center  of 
which  was  a  fire.  These  dancing  societies  were  all  open  societies  and 
were  not  to  be  classed  with  sacred  mysteries  or  secret  societies. 

Among  the  Dacotahs  the  religious  affairs  were  closely  associated 
with  civil,  were  not  differentiated.  The  sacred  tent  holds  the  sacred 
clam  shell,  the  tobacco  bag  made  of  the  bladder  of  an  elk,  the  tribal 
war  pipe  made  of  red  pipe-stone,  the  sacred  bag  made  of  the  skin  and 
feathers  of  a  bird,  the  war  eagle. 

The  conclusion  which  we  reach  is,  then,  that  most  of  the  secret 
societies  and  sacred  mysteries  were  a  part  of  the  tribal  organization 
and  were  really  the  religious  houses  of  the  people.  The  symbolism 
which  was  founded  upon  nature  worship  was  guarded  by  these  socie- 
ties, and  even  the  history  of  the  tribe,  especially  that  history  which, 
like  the  history  of  the  Bible,  goes  back  to  the  creation,  was  preserved 
by  the  sacred  men  of  the  tribe.  There  was  a  priesthood  which  dealt 
with  the  secrets  of  nature  and  the  mysteries  of  the  gods.  This  priest- 
hood at  times  went  into  the  practice  of  magic  and  used  the  black  arts. 
Still,  there  was  a  majesty  and  august  bearing  among  some  of  them 
which  impressed  the  people  with  the  sacredness  of  the  supernatural. 

Ill,  The  comparison  of  the  sacred  mysteries  found  among  the 
tribes  of  the  great  plateau  with  those  among  the  eastern  tribes  will 
prove  interesting.  There  was  here  an  entirely  different  system  of  re- 
ligion, and  the  religious  ceremonies  were  accordingly  very  different. 
These  were  conducted  in  underground  chambers  called  "kivas,"  the 
most  ancient  of  which  were  in  the  shape  of  a  cone,  though  in  later 
times  they  became  square  rooms,  resembling  the  other  rooms  of  the 


192         THE   INTERNATIONAL    CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Pueblos.  There  was  one  peculiarity  about  these  kivas,  which  reminds 
us  of  the  custom  of  the  Cherokees.  In  the  middle  of  the  room  there 
was  a  fire-place,  which  was  hollowed  out  from  the  floor  and  was  very 
sacred,  for  it  was  the  place  where  the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  dwelt, 
and  out  of  which  they  came.  These  were  the  "divinities  of  the 
hearth." 

The  kiva  is  spoken  of  as  the  home  of  the  organization.  It  may 
belong  either  to  a  society,  a  group  of  gentes,  or  an  individual.  No 
woman  could  enter  the  kivas.  There  was  a  symbolism  about  this 
room.  The  cavity  beneath  the  floor  indicates  the  place  of  the  b'^gin- 
ning,  the  house  under  the  earth,  the  abode  of  the  creator,  the  place 
from  which  the  people  emerged.  The  lower  floor  represents  the  sec- 
ond stage  or  the  second  world,  for  there  are  four  worlds  in  the  genesis 
myth.  The  elevated  section  of  the  floor  denotes  the  third  stage,  where 
animals  were  created.  Animal  fetiches  were  set  in  groups  upon  this 
platform.  There  was  an  opening  through  the  kiva  hatchway.  The 
people  climbed  up  a  ladder  through  this  to  the  open  air.  This  sym- 
bolized the  manner  of  their  emerging  from  the  earth  in  the  creation 
myth.     The  fourth  world  was  the  open  air. 

A  myth  which  has  been  preserved  by  Mrs.  Stevenson  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

When  the  people  first  came  to  this  world,  they  passed  through  four  worlds, 
all  in  the  interior,  the  passage-way  f'-om  darkness  to  light  being  through  a  large 
reed.  They  were  led  by  two  war  gods,  twin  brothers,  sons  of  the  sun.  They 
reached  this  world  in  the  early  morning,  and,  seeing  the  morning  star,  they  re- 
joiced and  said  to  the  war  gods:  "We  see  your  father,"  referring  to  the  sun. 
"  No,  this  is  the  warrior  who  comes  before  our  father,"  was  the  reply.  After- 
ward they  saw  the  sun,  and  were  full  of  fear.  The  first  of  the  Zunis  to  arrive 
were  the  bear  gens,  the  corn  gens,  and  the  sand-hill  crane  gens.  They  were  pre- 
ceded by  two  local  divinities,  the  son  and  daughter  of  a  priest-doctor,  called 
Kawimosa,  who  dwelt  upon  the  mountains  and  were  transformed,  the  one  into 
a  hideous-looking  creature,  and  the  other  into  a  being  with  snow-white  hair — 
possibly  personifications  of  the  snow  and  rain,  or  a  white  cloud  and  black 
cloud.  One  of  these,  as  he  descended  the  mountain,  drew  his  foot  through  the 
sands.  Immediately  a  river  flowed  and  a  lake  appeared,  and  in  the  depths  of 
the  lake  a  group  of  houses.  Across  this  river  the  Zunis  were  obliged  to  pass  in 
their  long  journey,  before  they  reached  their  resting-place.  As  they  crossed, 
some  of  the  children  fell  and  were  drowned,  but  their  spirits  went  to  the  beau- 
tiful village  beneath  the  lake.  There  was  a  belief  among  the  people  that  there 
was  a  passage-way  into  the  depths  of  the  lake,  where  were  the  waters  of  ever- 
lasting happiness.  In  the  passage-way  were  four  chambers,  where  the  priests 
of  the  divinities  rest  in  their  journeys  to  the  sacred  waters.  This  is  associated 
with  a  mountain  and  a  cave,  not  many  miles  from  Zuni,  which  are  supposed  to 
be  the  very  places  which  mark  the  passage-way  from  the  earth  to  the  spirit 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  SACRED  AWSTERIES.  193 

land.  In  this  cave,  plumed  sticks  were  gathered,  and  an  ancient  shrine  at  the 
mouth  of  it.  There  is  also  a  lake  about  forty-live  miles  away  from  Zuni.  The 
spirit  lake  is  the  home  of  the  divinities,  called  the  "Sootike"  or  the  "  Kokko." 
The  mythical  plumed  serpent  Kolo-oo-witsi  has  its  home  in  the  hot  spring,  not 
far  from  the  old  village  of  the  Zunis.  This  plumed  serpent  tlgures  very  con- 
spicuously in  the  initiatory  rites.  He  is  under  the  control  of  a  great  divinity 
called  "  Kaklo,"  the  father  of  the  lesser  divinities  called  "  Kokko  "  or  "  Sootike," 
who  furnishes  the  food  and  water  and  all  necessary  things, through  the  body  of 
the  serpent.  He  has  certain  servants  whom  he  calls  "  Salamobiya  "  and  whom 
he  sends  to  the  north,  east,  west  and  south,  to  the  heavens  and  to  the  earth,  to 
procure  the  cereals.  When  these  return,  he  says  to  the  serpent:  "You  will 
carry  them  with  water  to  the  Zunis,  and  tell  them  what  to  do  with  the  seeds, 
but  1  will  go  in  advance  and  prepare  them  for  your  coming."  The  servants  or 
messengers  then  take  the  plumed  serpent  Ko-lo-oo-witsi  and  carry  him  to  the 
kivas,  and  he  is  the  chief  object  in  the  ceremony,  which  occurs  once  in  four  years. 

This  is  the  myth  on  which  is  based  the  ceremony  and  which  ex- 
plains the  different  parts  of  the  ceremony.  It  is  a  personitication 
myth,  for  every  name  in  it  can  be  appHed  to  some  nature  power  and 
can  be  shown  to  be  a  personal  name  for  a  familiar  object — the  sun 
and  moon,  stars,  rain,  snow,  clouds,  lightning,  springs,  caves,  rivers. 
The  most  suggestive  is  the  name  of  the  plumed  serpent,  which  signi- 
fied the  rain-cloud  floating  over  the  mountains,  occasionally  descend- 
ing into  the  valleys,  bringing  water  and  grain  to  the  villages.  The 
ceremony  itself  was  only  a  sacred  drama  which  represented  the  differ- 
ent operations  of  nature.  In  the  initiation  of  the  children,  which  takes 
place  in  the  sacred  kivas  once  in  four  years,  images,  masks  and  plumes 
are  used  to  symbolize  the  various  divinities,  the  image  of  a  great  ser- 
pent being  the  chief  object.    The  symbols  are  as  follows: 

There  are  six  religious  houses,  one  for  each  of  the  cardinal  points,  one  for 
the  zenith  and  one  for  the  nadir.  The  superstition  is  that  no  male  child  can 
after  death  enter  the  spirit  lake,  or  have  access  to  the  sacred  houses  of  the  an- 
cient village  hidden  in  its  depths,  unless  he  receives  the  sacred  breath  of  the 
spiritual  divinities,  or  "Sootike."  There  are  accordingly  persons  appointed  who 
are  endowed  with  the  breath,  and  these  represent  the  dit^'erent  parts  of  the  sky, 
and  appear  in  the  ceremony.  They  wear  masks — those  for  the  north,  yellow; 
those  for  the  west,  blue;  those  for  the  south,  red;  those  for  the  east,  white; 
those  for  the  heavens,  all  colors;  those  for  the  earth,  black.  These  come  to  the 
village  after  sundown.  They  carry  a  serpent  made  of  hide,  about  twelve  feet 
long  and  eighteen  inches  through,  the  abdomen  painted  white,  the  back  black, 
covered  with  white  stars.  The  tail  is  held  by  the  priest,  who  constantly  blows 
through  a  large  shell  which  he  carries  in  his  right  hand.  They  pass  through  the 
town,  visit  each  kiva,  and  put  the  head  of  the  serpent  through  the  hatchway, 
where  it  may  be  seen  by  those  in  the  kivas.  They  finally  retire  to  a  particular 
kiva,  the  walls  of  which  are  decorated  with  the  figures  of  two  serpents,  and 
there  leave  the  image.     The    members   of  secret  orders    are  assembled  and 

V 


194         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

continue  to  dance  with  the  Sootike  in  the  different  kivas  until  the  first  white 
streaks  warn  them  that  day  is  approaching.  At  this  time  the  head  of  the  ser- 
pent is  seen  projecting  through  an  opening  in  the  wall  of  the  kiva,  but  the  im- 
age is  seen  by  the  uncertain  light  of  the  faintest  impression  of  day.  Behind  the 
serpent  the  old  priest  stands  and  blows  through  the  body,  the  peculiar  noise 
representing  the  roaring  of  a  sea  monster.  At  sunrise  the  messengers,  Salam- 
obija,  bring  to  the  priest  plumes  and  ears  of  corn,  colored  yellow  for  the  north, 
blue  for  the  west,  red  for  the  south,  white  for  the  east,  black  for  ihe  earth,  and 
all  colors  for  the  heavens.  A  sumptuous  meal  is  now  served  in  the  kivas,  after 
which  the  messengers  plant  their  plumes  at  the  respective  cardinal  points,  and 
drink  the  medicine  water  prepared  by  the  priest  of  the  great  tire  order,  take  the 
bunches  of  Spanish  bayonets  in  their  hands  and  prepare  for  the  ceremony.  The 
priest  of  the  sun  enters  the  sacred  plaza  and  draws  the  sacred  square,  with  the 
sacred  meal,  along  the  south  and  the  west  sides,  on  which  the  messengers  are  to 
stand — a  yellow  line  on  the  east,  a  blue  line  for  the  west,  a  red  line  for  the 
south.  Along  these  lines  the  godfathers  pass,  each  one  holding  his  godchild  on 
his  back.  As  he  passes  the  line  where  the  Sootike  stand,  each  one  strikes  the 
child  with  a  large  bunch  of  Spanish  bayonets,  with  such  force,  at  times,  as  to 
draw  tears  to  the  eyes  of  the  little  ones.  The  godfather  then  receives  a  plume, 
which  is  made  of  the  soft,  downy  feathers  of  the  eagle,  attaches  It  to  the  scalp- 
lock  of  the  child,  and  gives  it  a  drink  of  the  holy  water,  which  is  dipped  from  a 
bowl  by  the  medicine  man  with  a  shell.  This  ceremony  is  in  the  open  air.  The 
night  ceremony  is  in  the  kiva.  Here  the  godparents  sit  upon  a  stone  ledge, 
which  represents  the  third  stage  in  the  creation,  each  with  a  boy  at  his  side  on 
the  ledge.  The  father  of  the  sun  sits  upon  a  throne  at  the  west  end  of  the 
room,  with  two  young  priests  at  the  right  and  left;  the  high  priest  and  priest- 
ess of  the  earth  on  either  side  of  the  throne.  The  war  god  sits  at  the  left  of  the 
fire  altar  and  feeds  the  sacred  flames.  Inside  of  the  kiva  are  mounds  of  sand, 
on  which  are  wands  of  feathers,  which  the  messengers  from  all  the  points  of 
the  compass  take  and  carry  to  the  child,  blowing  the  sacred  breath  over  the 
plumes  into  the  mouth  of  the  child.  The  messengers  of  the  north,  east,  south, 
west,  all  in  turn,  go  to  each  child,  and  as  each  messenger  completes  the  round, 
he  places  his  wand  in  his  belt,  turns  a  somerset  over  the  fire,  strikes  his  head  on 
the  fire-slab  and  leaves  the  kiva  feet  foremost.  After  this  the  feathered  serpent 
appears,  borne  by  the  Sootike  and  the  priest.  The  high  priest  of  the  bow,  the 
sky,  the  priestess  of  the  earth,  ascend  to  the  hatchway,  holding  a  large  earthen 
bowl,  to  catch  the  water  poured  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ko-lo-oo-witsi  serpent. 
Each  godfather  carries  the  holy  water  to  the  boys  to  drink,  and  makes  a  gift  of 
the  bowl  to  the  boy,  who  sprinkles  the  corn  stacked  in  his  house  with  it. 
After  the  water  is  exhausted,  the  priests  catch  the  seeds  which  are  sent  from  the 
abdomen  of  the  Ko-lo-oo-witsi,  or  serpent,  in  their  blankets  and  distribute  the 
seeds  to  all  present.  The  boys  now  return  to  their  homes,  but  in  the  morning 
are  taken  to  the  house,  and,  after  a  sumptuous  breakfast,  are  taken  a  distance 
from  the  village  and  plant  the  prayer  plumes  and  deposit  the  plumes  from  the 
child's  head  with  a  prayer,  the  child  repeating  the  prayers  after  the  godfather. 
This  ends  the  remarkable  initiation  of  a  child  in  the  sacred  order  of  the  Sootike. 
It  is  in  every  part  symbolic,  but  symbolic  of  the  nature  powers  rather  than  the 
animal  divinities. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  195 

It  will  be  noticed  in  this  ceremony  that  the  serpent  is  really  a 
benefactor  rather  than  an  enemy,  showing  that  he  was  a  personifica- 
tion of  the  rain-cloud;  he  is  borne  by  the  Sootike,  who  are  mes- 
sengers of  the  wind;  he  also  appears  at  the  earliest  dawn,  and  again 
late  in  the  evening  or  at  night,  at  the  hatchways  of  the  kiva.  The 
personification  of  the  sun  sits  upon  the  throne,  but  the  priest  of  the 
sky  and  the  priestess  of  the  earth  symbolize  male  and  female,  "mother 
earth  "  and  "  father  sky,"  exactly  as  they  did  among  the  Egyptians.  The 
gifts  of  the  water  and  the  corn  come  through  the  body  of  the  serpent 
as  through  the  rain-cloud.  The  arch  of  the  sky  is  symbolized  by  the 
roof  of  the  kiva.  The  ledge  or  rock,  on  which  the  people  live,  is 
symbolized  by  the  ledge  on  which  the  godfathers  sit,  with  their  rela- 
tives at  their  side.  The  fire  is  in  the  center  of  the  kiva,  the  plumes 
planted  on  the  floor  of  the  kiva;  the  wind  gods  or  messengers  turn 
somersets  over  the  fire,  both  as  they  come  in  from  the  sky  through 
the  hatchway  and  as  they  go  up.  The  water  descends  from  the  sky 
and  is  distributed  in  bowls  to  those  on  the  ledge,  and  the  bowl  is  left 
as  an  emblem  of  water  for  the  household.  The  whole  ceremony  is 
unique.  There  is  no  trace  of  any  historic  tradition  in  it.  It  is  purely 
aboriginal.  Not  even  the  trace  of  a  cosmogony  or  deluge,  such  as  we 
find  among  the  eastern  tribes.  The  conception  of  the  future  is  also 
unique.  Heaven  is  a  pueblo  beneath  the  water  and  not  in  the  sky. 
The  passage  to  it  is  through  the  mountain  and  not  through  the  clouds. 
The  kiva  is  the  most  sacred  part  of  it.  The  soul  of  the  child  can  enter 
this  kiva  by  means  of  the  intercession  of  the  priests  and  by  making 
prayers  to  the  divinities.  Water  was  the  greatest  blessing,  even  more 
of  a  blessing  than  the  sky.  Thus  the  contrasts  are  owing  to  the  sur- 
roundings. The  Scandinavians  located  their  heavens  near  the  region 
of  fire.  The  Christian  locates  his  heaven  in  the  sky  and  in  the  sun- 
light.    The  Zuni  located  his  in  the  water. 

IV.  The  significance  of  the  ceremonies  and  symbols  will  next 
engage  our  attention.  These  were  for  the  most  part  dramatizations 
and  had  relation  to  the  "  course  of  life"  and  perhaps  to  the  '  'journey 
of  the  soul.''  This  will  be  seen  more  fully  as  we  come  to  study  the 
remarkable  myths  and  symbols  of  the  Navajos. 

The  secret  societies  of  the  Navajos  are  not  so  well  known  as  are 
those  of  the  Zunis  and  Moquis;  still  there  are  various  customs  and 
myths  which  convince  us  that  they  were  very  powerful.  The  Nava- 
jos seem  to  have  been  very  secret  in  their  ways.  They  rarely  put 
symbols  on  the  rocks,  and  the  sand  painting  which  was  common 


196        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

amon^  them  was  much  of  it  practiced  in  secret.  Even  that  which  was 
done  in  public  had  an  esoteric  meaning"  which  was  equivalent  to 
secrecy.  Still  the  various  myths  and  ceremonies  which  have  been 
made  known  convince  us  that  there  was  a  secret  order  by  which  these 
ceremonies  were  conducted  and  the  myths  preserved.  The  prayer  of 
the  Navajo  shaman  given  by  Dr.  Washington  Matthews  illustrates 
this.  This  prayer  might  be  called  the  journey  of  a  soul  after  a  body. 
It  is  a  prayer  which  must  be  repeated  at  one  time  without  cessation, 
and  with  great  care  to  observe  every  part  in  its  order.  It  contains  a 
series  of  word  pictures,  pictures  of  the  unseen  world  under  the  mate- 
rial figures.  In  it  the  suppliant  calls  upon  the  divinities  of  the  four 
mountains  to  come  to  him.  There  is  a  place  of  emergence  referring 
to  the  story  of  the  emerging  of  the  people  from  under  the  earth. 

This  place  is  guarded  by  Smooth  Wind,  but  one  of  the  war  gods,  Nagay- 
nezni,  with  a  black  wand,  a  slayer  of  the  alien  gods,  and  Tobajischeni,  the  second 
of  the  war  gods,  a  kinsman  to  the  waters,  with  a  blue  wand,  open  the  way 
for  him.  The  passage  is  now  through  the  chambers  or  houses  of  the  clouds — 
the  black  cloud,  the  blue  cloud,  the  yellow  and  the  white  clouds.  The  gods 
with  the  black  wand  and  the  blue  wand  lead  the  way.  His  passage  is  next 
through  the  chambers  of  the  houses  of  the  mists — the  black  mist,  the  blue  mist, 
the  white  mist  and  the  yellow  mist.  He  arrives  at  the  red  river's  crossing,  an 
imaginary  locality  in  one  of  the  lower  worlds.  He  then  approaches  the  cham- 
bers of  the  mountains.  First  is  the  chamber  of  the  black  mountain,  where  the 
door  is  guarded  by  the  red  bear.  Next  the  chamber  of  the  blue  mountain, 
which  is  guarded  by  the  red  serpent.  The  third  is  the  yellow  mountain,  where 
the  red  coyote  guards  the  door.  The  fourth  is  the  chamber  of  the  white  moun- 
tain, where  the  red  hawk  guards  the  door.  He  comes  to  the  entry  of  the  red- 
floored  lodge,  which  is  the  house  of  the  woman,  the  chief  of  the  witches.  He 
enters  and  reaches  the  edge  of  the  lodge,  then  the  fire-place  of  the  lodge,  then 
the  middle  of  the  lodge,  and  finally  the  back  of  the  lodge.  Here  he  finds  the 
spiritual  body,  which  is  held  in  the  power  of  the  woman  chieftain.  The  feet, 
limbs,  body,  mind,  dust,  saliva,  hair,  are  all  recognized.  The  war  god  places 
the  stone  knife  and  the  talking  feather  in  his  hand,  turns  around  as  the  sun 
moves,  and  says:  "Woman  chieftain,  my  grandson  is  restored  to  me.  Seek 
not  to  find  him;  say  not  a  word.  We  start  back  with  my  grandson;  he  is  re- 
stored to  me."  They  then  go  back  to  the  middle  of  the  lodge,  to  the  edge  of 
the  lodge,  through  the  entry  of  the  lodge,  the  war  gods,  one  with  his  black  wand 
before,  the  other  with  his  blue  wand  behind  him;  back  through  the  cham- 
bers of  the  mountains,  past  the  red  hawk,  the  red  coyote,  the  red  serpent  and 
the  red  bear.  They  cross  the  red  rivers;  they  climb  up  through  the  white  mist, 
yellow  mist,  blue  mist  and  black  mist;  through  the  white  cloud,  the  yellow 
cloud,  the  blue  cloud  and  bhck  cloud;  through  the  place  of  emergence,  along 
the  coyote  race-course,  past  the  two  hanging  gourds,  by  the  brown  pinnacle 
and  the  breeze  under  a  tree,  until  he  sees  his  lodge  and  the  trails  that  lead  to  it. 
and  the  broad  field  beautified  with  corn.    Here  two  other  divinities,  Haschayon 


SECRET  SOCIETIES   AND  SACRED  MYSTERIES.  197 

and  Haschayalti,  who  were  peaceful  and  beneficent  gods  of  the  Navajos,  appear, 
one  with  a  white  wand  and  the  other  with  blue,  and  lead  him  through  the  trails 
and  across  the  fields  to  the  entry  of  his  lodge,  made  of  the  daylight.  They  then 
pass  through  the  edge  of  the  lodge  to  the  fire-place,  to  the  middle  of  the  lodge 
and  the  back  of  the  lodge,  where  they  all  sit  down  on  the  floor  of  the  lodge, 
where  the  feet,  limbs,  body,  mind,  dust,  saliva,  hair,  are  lying.  The  shaman  ex- 
claims: "I  have  returned  to  my  feet,  my  limbs,  body,  mind,  dust,  saliva,  hair; 
and  my  feet  are  restored  to  me,  my  limbs,  my  body,  my  mind,  are  restored  to 
me.  The  world  before  me,  behind  me,  below  me,  above  me,  all  things  around 
me,  are  restored  in  beauty.  My  voice  is  restored  in  beauty.  It  is  restored  in 
beauty,  in  beauty,  in  beauty, in  beauty." 

This  prayer  illustrates  the  journey  of  the  soul  after  the  spiritual 
body,  or  astral  body,  that  it  might  be  restored  to  the  physical  body. 
The  same  thought  is  conveyed  by  the  mountain  chant.  This  chant 
describes  the  adventures  of  a  Navajo  hunter  who  was  taken  captive. 
He  wandered  among  the  mountains  in  his  efYort  to  escape  and  get 
back  to  his  home.  It  describes  the  wonderful  adventures,  which  can 
be  compared  only  to  the  journey  of  Virgil  through  Tartarus,  or  Dante 
and  Beatrice  through  the  infernal  regions.  The  rocks  open  by  magic 
power,  and  he  passes  in  and  out  again.  Trees  rise  heaven  high  and 
land  him  on  the  top  of  the  mountains.  Mountains  sink  and  rise  again, 
chambers  appear.  The  wind  storms  and  tornadoes  come  with  rushing 
noise,  the  air  is  filled  with  logs  and  uprooted  trees,  but  the  tempest 
recognizes  him  and  subsides.  Serpents  show  signs  of  great  anger, 
shake  their  rattles  violently,  thrust  out  their  tongues,  but  they  do  not 
bite.  After  passing  dangers  of  this  kind  they  come  to  the  houses,  the 
homes  of  the  lightning  gods,  where  the  birds  flash  lightning  from  their 
claws.  They  come  to  the  house  of  the  buttertlies,  tilled  with  butter- 
flies and  rainbows;  also  to  the  house  of  the  squirrels,  which  is  built 
of  black  water,  with  a  door  of  red  sunbeams;  the  house  of  the  porcu- 
pine gods,  where  the  door  is  of  wind;  a  house  of  rock  crystal  with 
a  door  of  all  sorts  of  plants;  a  house  of  cherries  with  a  door  of  light- 
ning; a  house  made  of  dew-drops,  on  leaf  mountain,  whose  door  is 
made  of  plants  of  ditTerent  kinds;  to  the  house  of  white  water,  whose 
door  is  of  daylight.  Rainbows  ran  in  every  direction  and  made  the 
house  shine  with  bright  colors.  They  finally  came  to  the  medicine 
lodge,  where  the  ceremonies  and  dances  were  conducted  by  gods,  in  the 
shape  of  the  powers  of  nature,  radiating  white  streaks,  beautifully  deco- 
rated with  necklaces  made  of  turquoise,  coral  and  rare  shells,  em- 
broidered dresses  and  many  beautiful  things.  The  poetry  contained 
in  this  mountain  chant  is  most  remarkable,  and  equals  in  some  re. 
spects  the  poetry  of  Dante  himself.     The  imagery  is  drawn  from  the 


198         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

mountain  scenery,  is  filled  with  bright  colors  and  contains  pictures  of 
all  the  wild  things  of  nature,  strangely  blended  with  thoughts  of  the 
supernatural  beings. 

This  wonderful  chant  is  symbolized  by  the  sand  paintings  which 
form  an  important  part  in  one  of  the  secret  ceremonies  of  the  Na- 
vajos.  These  paintings  contain  figures  of  the  cross,  and  the  rainbow, 
with  various  plants  and  animals,  all  of  them  in  colors;  but  the  chief 
figures  are  the  serpents  which  form  the  walls  of  the  chambers  and 
guard  the  rafts  of  the  clouds,  very  much  as  the  serpents  guard  the 
halls  or  lodges  in  the  Medawin  ceremony.  The  imagery  is  different, 
for  the  houses  or  chambers  are  in  the  sky,  and  the  divinities  are  sky 
divinities.  The  serpents  are  symbols  of  the  nature  powers.  The 
cross  is  the  weather  symbol.  The  rainbow  is  the  symbol  of  the 
arch  of  the  sky.  The  revolution  of  the  cross  is  a  symbol  of  the  rev- 
olution of  the  earth.  The  bowl  in  the  center  is  the  symbol  of  the 
water.  It  is  an  imagery  adapted  to  the  cult  of  the  sky  rather  than  to 
the  animal  cult,  but  it  reveals  the  same  general  conception,  the  per- 
sonification of  the  powers  of  nature. 

One  of  these  ceremonies  has  been  described  by  Mr.  James  Stev- 
enson. In  this  ceremony  four  men  were  prepared  to  personate  gods 
and  goddesses.  The  lodge  had  the  rainbow  painted  over  it.  The 
doorway  to  the  lodge  was  made  of  buckskins,  which  represented  the 
daylight,  or  the  twilight  which  comes  just  at  the  dawn  of  day.  A 
sand  painting,  which  represents  the  rainbow,  was  drawn  inside  of  the 
medicine  lodge,  but  was  erased  the  first  day,  and  the  lodge  was  taken 
down  and  laid  at  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  Ceremonies  in 
which  the  four  plumes,  medicine  tubes,  reeds,  beads,  crystals  herald- 
ing the  sunbeam,  corn  pollen,  bunches  of  feathers,  were  brought  into 
the  lodge  and  placed  on  a  rug.  Various  ceremonies  were  passed 
through  with  great  care  to  observe  every  point  correctly.  A  chant 
was  sung  by  the  song  priests.  The  personators  of  the  gods  adorned 
themselves  with  silver  belts,  and  wore  masks  and  waved  pine  boughs. 

In  another  painting  there  is  a  cross  in  the  center  of  the  lodge, 
which  symbolizes  water  and  sunbeams.  On  the  arms  of  the  cross 
are  the  gods  and  goddesses  painted  in  colors,  the  heads  ornamented 
with  eagle  plumes,  a  line  of  sunlight  on  the  head,  blue  sunlight  on  the 
skirts,  colored  stars  upon  the  bodies.  They  carry  rattles  in  their 
hands  to  symbolize  the  rain.  The  staif  is  colored  black  and  orna- 
mented with  eagle  plumes  and  sunbeams,  symbolizing  the  clouds  and 
sunlight  and  the  powers  of  nature. 


OBSERVATIONS  AMONG  THE  CAMEROON  TRIBES  OF 
WEST  CENTRAL  AFRICA. 

BY   C.    H.    RICHARDSON. 

THE  continent  of  Africa  is  prolific  with  signs  of  ancient  historical 
relations.  The  student  of  ethnology  will  find  a  rich  field  of 
research,  and  the  scientist  will  find  increasing  interest  and  sur- 
prising discoveries.  The  piercing  sun  and  fatal  climate  of  this  unfor- 
tunate country  have  alone  held  back  the  foot  of  the  explorer  and 
arrested  the  pen  of  the  historian.  But  dil^kulties  vanish  before  time, 
and  the  result  of  past  research  into  the  condition  of  this  country  has 
been  so  fruitful  of  interesting  information  that  every  succeeding  year 
will  be  accompanied  with  new  encouragement  and  will  carry  an  im- 
petus to  future  endeavor,  which  will,  we  trust,  bring  to  light  what  is 
yet  a  mystery  in  the  history  of  the  Dark  Continent. 

The  country  of  the  Cameroons  is  situated  on  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  between  parallels  of  5°  N.  and  10=  S.  latitude.  The  coast  is 
for  the  most  part  low  and  marshy.  There  are  few  rugged  coast  lines. 
But  a  uniform  climate  prevails  and  it  is  unhealthy.  But  as  you  enter 
the  interior  the  country  rises  at  the  rate  of  75  feet  to  the  100  miles. 
All  of  Western  Africa  is  heavily  timbered,  and  large  trees  of  ebony 
and  mahogany  abound.  For  ten  years  it  was  our  privilege  to  reside 
at  Bakundu,  110  miles  interior  of  the  Cameroons  Mountains.  We 
lived  four  miles  distant  from  the  Cameroons  River,  at  a  point  5  °  N. 
Lat.  and  10°  W.  Long.  Here  we  found  it  more  healthy  than  it  was 
at  the  coast  or  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  After  a  year  of  fevers  we 
had  here  very  good  health.  All  Europeans  must  have  this  fever.  It 
is  the  process  of  acclimatization,  a  reduction  of  the  system  and  regu- 
lation of  the  blood  to  African  normal  conditions.  All  newcomers 
must  imbibe  good  supplies  of  quinine.  Quinine  is  an  antiperiodic, 
a  preventive,  not  a  cure  of  the  fever.  We  had  the  quinine  put  upon 
the  breakfast  table,  so  that  we  would  not  forget  to  take  a  morning 
dose  of  the  requisite.  We  found  small  doses  taken  always  more 
effective  and  less  injurious  than  large  doses  taken  only  when  fever  of 
a  malignant  type  had  been  contracted.  Even  when  one  is 
acclimatized,  he  is  yet  subject  to  occasional  fever,  caused  by  exposure 

199 


200        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

and  fatigue,  and  commonly  called  accidental  fever.  It  is  no  more 
dangerous,  however,  than  a  slight  cold  in  a  northern  clime,  if  due  at- 
tention is  paid  to  it  and  relief  administered. 

All  Africans,  when  young,  have  an  hereditary  disease  called 
behatti — coequal  in  appearance  to  scarlet  fever,  but  not  contagious. 
They  bathe  the  infant  every  morning  in  the  waters  of  the  clear,  cold 
brook.  The  pimples  on  the  body  of  the  infant  emit  a  mucid  liquid 
called  by  the  natives  tnadibaya  bubi,  or  evil  water,  and  none  of  them 
escape  this  disease,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  their  climatic  change  and 
accounts  for  their  immunity  from  that  fatal  type  of  the  African  fever 
which  thins  the  ranks  of  the  adventurous  merchant  and  explorer.  1 
believe  that  if  this  mucid  substance  was  inoculated  into  the  blood  of 
a  European  it  would  render  him  impervious  to  fatal  fever.  Of 
course,  I  did  not  try  it  on  myself,  and  my  wife  objected  to  be  the  sub- 
ject of  the  first  application.  So  I  commend  it  to  men  of  science  every- 
where as  a  solution  of  one  of  the  most  important  of  African  problems. 
This  might  make  the  use  of  horses  possible  in  West  Central  African 
commerce  as  a  substitute  for  the  slow  foot  and  hand  of  the  native 
carrier.  The  question  of  roads  would  then  be  one  of  necessity,  and  the 
jungle-path  would  give  way  to  a  wide  highway,  by  which  the  rich 
woods  and  oils  of  the  interior  would  reach  the  markets  of  the  world. 

There  are  two  seasons  in  Africa — a  wet  season  and  a  dry  one. 
Each  is  ushered  in  by  tornadoes,  the  cause  of  which  1  have  no  need  to 
discuss  scientifically  to  this  audience.  These  tornadoes  often  blow 
down  the  houses  and  bananas  of  the  people,  and  they  believe  that  the 
witch  sends  them.  Once  I  attempted  to  give  them  a  scientific  explan- 
ation, but  as  I  found  that  they  were  incredulous  and  doubted  my  story, 
1  desisted,  for  fear  that  my  reputation  for  veracity  might  be  impaired 
for  future  use.  1  had  occasion  to  tell  them  the  world  was  round.  "  1 
do  not  believe  that,"  said  one,  "  for  the  houses  would  all  fall  olT."  So 
I  learned  to  wait  until  they  were  more  advanced  before  venturing  upon 
the  scientific. 

"All  the  world  and  every  creature"  might  be  a  short  expression 
of  the  sentiment  of  this  World's  Ethnological  Congress.  The  students 
of  antiquity  may  find  as  much  of  interest  to  excavate  from  the  minds 
of  the  African  negro  of  the  continent  of  Africa  as  those  find  who  work 
in  the  excavations  of  Pompeii.  Habits  and  customs  of  peoples  are  as 
true  a  sign  of  ancient  historical  connections  as  the  hieroglyphics  un- 
earthed from  the  sacred  soil  of  the  Pharaohs.  Rolling  rocks  and  tot- 
tering temples  mark  the  spots  where  ancient  cities  stood,  and  there 


OBSERVATIONS   AMONG  THE   CAMEROON  TRIBES.  201 

Stand  in  the  chaotic  character  of  the  African  people  marks  of  by-gone 
pomp  and  ancient  splendor.  Nature  is  true  to  the  death  everywhere, 
and  the  African  barbarian  boasts  himself  of  lofty  birth  and  noble  an- 
cestry. Physiology  and  psychology  will  fmd  phenomenal  and  sur- 
prising departures  from  the  common  rule.  Men  of  brains  are  stand- 
ing among  the  forest  of  population  like  giant  oaks,  only  bound  by  the 
limits  of  requirements  and  the  limited  area  of  their  knowledge. 

There  are  men  of  genius  who  have  the  unwritten  laws  of  the  peo- 
ple engraved  on  their  memory,  though  they  have  no  law  report  to 
which  to  resort.  Their  minds  are  a  store-house  of  past  precedent  in 
all  civil  and  criminal  cases.  Some  of  these  lawyers  speak  five  lan- 
guages and  go  miles  to  settle  grave  causes  among  adjoining  tribes. 
Wit  and  humor  sparkle  like  gems  and  precious  stones  in  the  mines  of 
Kimberly.  Every  branch  of  professional  life  is  represented,  the  phys- 
ician and  surgeon  as  well  as  the  merchant  and  silversmith. 

All  of  these  display  past  civilization  in  crude  form,  but  none 
show  what  the  African  mind  is  so  well  as  the  native  lawyer  or  spokes- 
man of  the  people.  They  hold  courts  of  three  characters — civil, 
criminal,  and  custom  or  ecclesiastical. 

Their  civil  courts  relate  to  breaches  of  contracts  in  trades  for 
wives  or  goods. 

Their  criminal  courts  have  jurisdiction  of  violations  of  mar- 
riage rights  and  theft  and  unnatural  deaths,  said  to  be  caused  by  poi- 
son or  witchcraft,  or  accidental  murder,  or  careless  homicide. 

Witnesses  swear  upon  an  idol  image  called  moso!iiros,2Lnd  it  is 
claimed  that  any  one  swearing  falsely  upon  the  head  of  the  image  will 
be  visited  with  summary  punishment  from  the  violated  image. 

Various  bunches  of  sticks  may  be  seen  over  any  front  door  of  a 
chief  of  a  household.  When  a  trade  is  made  and  partial  payment 
accepted,  a  stick  four  or  five  inches  long  is  taken  and  notches  cut  into 
it  to  represent  the  quantities  of  what  is  prolTered  in  payment.  The 
stick  is  then  cut  or  split  in  two  pieces.  Each  of  the  two  parties  to 
the  trade  takes  a  stick.  When  they  again  meet  for  settlement,  these 
sticks  must  match  to  complete  the  notches  which  were  made  in  the 
stick  of  which  they  are  a  part.  Any  tampering  with  either  half  of 
the  stick  is  thus  easily  discovered.  Sticks  have  diflferent  kinds  of 
notches  cut  into  them,  some  to  represent  cloth,  some  tobacco  and 
other  articles. 

Witnesses  are  supplied  by  the  interrogator  with  a  small  strip  of 
banana  leaf  for  each  question  propounded  to  him.     If  he  answers  a 


202        THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

question  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court,  he  throws  the  strip  backward 
over  his  head.  This  means  that  the  implication  contained  in  the 
question  is  far  from  him.  If  he  does  not  answer  satisfactorily,  he 
lays  the  strip  of  leaf  down  by  his  side  and  stands  indicted  as  guilty  of 
the  charge  implied  in  the  question  asked. 

It  is  said  of  him  who  thus  retains  the  leaf  that  the  leaf  is  always 
with  him.  To  relate  all  of  the  peculiarities  in  the  court  proceedings 
of  these  peculiar  people  would  take  unwarranted  space  in  this  paper. 
Their  courts  are  convened  with  the  most  solemn  ceremony,  and  the 
silent  space  of  time  before  the  first  speaker  is  introduced  is  almost 
sublime.  That  dignity  which  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  civil  ses- 
sions is  never  entirely  obliterated  from  a  barbarous  people  when  they 
sit  in  courts  of  dispute,  though  the  wig  and  gown  is  conspicuously 
absent  and  the  American  style  of  honorable  address  is  lost.  That 
sacred  demeanor  of  great  assizes  is  visible  and  marks  past  civilization 
so  indelibly  that  no  honest  observer  can  doubt  for  a  moment  that  the 
African  people  were  once  an  enlightened  people. 

They  have  a  name  for  the  Divine  Being,  but  do  not  apprehend 
his  character,  nor  how  he  is  to  be  approached.  The  heathen  want  no 
teacher  of  God.  They  want  a  mediator.  In  Siam  they  take  the 
white  elephant  and  in  Africa  they  take  the  moon.  An  African  believes 
he  will  prosper  if  he  is  let  alone.  He  does  not  ask  for  favors  to  be 
bestowed,  but  asks  his  gods  to  prevent  enemies  from  hindering  favors 
from  falling  to  his  lot.  His  destiny  is  prosperity  if  nothing  interposes; 
hence  his  charms  to  keep  the  witch  away.  This  is  the  original  idea 
of  the  horse-shoe  over  the  door.  Over  every  African  door  is  some 
charm.  It  was  believed  that  this  charm  would  change  the  mind  of  an 
enemy  or  witch  who  passed  under  it.  That  is  the  idea  of  the  horse- 
shoe now,  not  to  make  good  luck,  but  to  prevent  the  witch  of  bad 
luck.  If  an  African  dreams  of  a  person  whom  he  knows  or  with 
whom  he  is  associated,  he  visits  that  person  the  very  first  thing  in  the 
morning,  and  he  says  to  him:  "Why  were  you  over  to  my  house 
last  night?  What  have  I  done  to  you  that  your  spirit  leaves  your  bed 
to  bother  me  in  the  night.''  You  must  cease  that  kind  of  work,  or  I 
will  accuse  you  of  evil  design."  If  he  dreams  of  animals,  he  goes 
hunting  in  the  forest  next  day,  as  he  believes  he  will  see  game.  The 
superstitious  of  this  land  who  dream  of  numbers,  or  cows,  or  horses, 
consult  a  dream-book  and  play  lottery.  Many  of  the  charges  for  witch- 
craft result  from  dreams  and  often  end  in  the  death  of  the  accused. 

They  have  many  devices  to  detect  thieves,  most  of  which  are 


OBSERVATIONS  AMONG  THE  CAMEROON  TRIBES.  203 

superstitious  tests,  such  as  swearing  on  their  country  customs  and 
sensitive  leaves  said  to  crumple  at  the  touch  of  a  thief.  Any  indica- 
tion of  a  system  of  punishment  for  stealing  may  be  regarded  as  a 
mark  of  civilization.  Surely,  the  rights  of  property  are  held  sacred 
among  the  enlightened  nations.  We  may  not  claim  for  the  Africans 
a  moral  abhorrence  of  theft,  but  that  they  regard  stealing  a  trespass 
not  to  be  tolerated  is  certain.  The  Bakundu  tribes  of  the  western 
interior  fine  the  offender  for  the  first,  and  under  some  circumstances 
for  the  second  oiTense,  but  the  third  is  punished  by  severing  a  lobe 
from  the  right  ear.  I  have  seen  men,  and  women,  too,  with  both 
ears  entirely  severed.  Such  a  natural  thief  is  called  by  them  tnotu 
wawibe,  or  "  a  man  who  steals. "  He  is  also  regarded  as  born  to 
theft  and  is  sometimes  banished  from  the  tribe. 

One  of  their  first  ideas  of  a  book  or  piece  of  paper  was  a  strange 
one,  namely,  that  no  one  could  steal  anything  on  which  a  piece  of 
paper  was  attached;  and  a  few  months  after  our  arrival  they  put  bits 
of  paper,  on  which  something  was  written  or  printed,  upon  their 
banana  trees,  to  prevent  the  elephants  or  people  from  troubling  them. 

Where  did  they  learn  the  system  of  awards  and  punishment  that 
lies  at  the  root  of  our  moral  laws?  Could  it  be  inherited.?  We  think 
not.     It  was  a  custom  handed  down  by  a  better  civilization. 

There  are  natural  thieves  and  there  are  naturally  honest  ones 
among  them.  Kimberly  has  its  gems  of  matter,  but  Africa  also  has 
its  gems  of  mind.  There  are  faithful  ones  whose  law  seems  to  be, 
"  Honesty  is  the  best  policy,"  and  they  are  both  humane  and  moral. 
They  do  not  recognize  the  circumstance  of  accidental  death,  neither 
did  the  Jews.  An  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.  In  Africa, 
he  who  kills  another  accidentally  must  die.  Then,  they  say,  the 
friends  of  each  are  equal  mourners. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  duties  we  had  to  perform  in  Africa 
was  to  save  a  man  from  death  who  had  killed  another  accidentally. 
Missionaries  do  much  good  among  the  wild  tribes  of  the  African  inte- 
rior by  saving  many  from  the  fatal  flat  of  custom  whose  edict  is 
death.  In  Bakundu  language,  akalimba  means  to  crucify,  and  the 
victim  is  crucified  in  the  following  manner:  The  culprit  is  lashed  to 
a  tree  with  his  feet  two  or  three  feet  from  the  ground,  his  arms  out- 
stretched and  tied  to  a  cross-beam,  so  that  the  weight  of  his  body 
would  hang  on  his  wrists.  His  feet  tied  loosely  at  the  foot  of  the  tree 
and  his  head  hanging  on  his  breast.  After  some  time  of  sutTering  and 
before  death  they  break  his  arms  and  legs  with  clubs.     With  such  a 


204        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

similitude  of  ancient  crucifixion,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  fixing  this 
people's  identity  as  descendants  of  the  early  enlightened  peoples.  And 
they— the  Africans — are  the  only  people  who  resemble  the  man  whom 
David  referred  to  when  he  said:  "  Wine  to  make  glad  the  heart  of 
man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face  to  shine."  It  is  the  custom  of  the 
Africans  to  oil  themselves,  and  their  complexion  is  one  that  shines 
under  the  process.  If  you  oil  a  white  man's  face  it  will  look  wet,  but 
not  shine.  They  make  wine  of  the  purest  kind,  and  they  are  very 
scrupulous  in  dividing  the  wine  with  their  fellows,  and  I  have  known 
one  to  carry  a  mouthful  of  wine  to  his  friend  like  a  pigeon  serves  its 
young. 

They  regard  a  man  who  gets  drunk  as  a  witch,  and  he  is  not  tol- 
erated. I  have  seen  a  man  who  never  drank  wine,  used  tobacco  or 
danced,  and  when  I  inquired  why  this  was  so,  I  was  told  that  "  he  did 
not  have  that  time  in  his  body — A  sopikoppi  ocho  punda  O  nyolo. " 
They  say  he  never  desired  to  do  so.  David  had  many  wives,  and 
Africans,  too,  think  the  more  of  them  you  have  the  better.  They  are 
worth  having  in  Africa.  I  do  not  mean  this  as  a  reflection  on  present 
company.  But  there  is  a  single  exception  to  the  inference  which  I 
cannot  remove.  It  is  this:  All  there  are  worth  something — from  $50 
to  $250.  There  are,  then,  many  marriages  and  few  divorces.  Here 
we  have  the  reverse:  widows  bring  the  smallest  price,  and,  anyway, 
always  find  suitors.  You  know  how  it  is  here  better  than  I  do.  They 
begin  payment  when  the  girl  is  quite  young,  so  as  to  complete  pay- 
ment by  the  time  she  is  of  age.  The  father  buys  his  son  a  wife;  the 
son  is  then  started  in  life.  Her  wedding  presents  are  not  costly,  but 
highly  useful.  They  are:  an  axe  to  cut  wood,  a  large  earthen  vessel 
to  bring  water  in,  and  another  one  to  cook  the  food  in.  If  she  is  the 
third  wife  in  rotation  of  his  purchases,  she  is  considered  and  considers 
herself  more  fortunate  than  the  fifth  or  sixth.  There  are  few  who 
dissent  from  the  bargain  their  fathers  make. 

The  man  of  note  in  Africa  carries  no  parcels.  He  who  occupies 
a  prominent  position  in  Africa  must  not  carry  a  package,  however 
small;  if  he  does,  he  loses  caste  and  the  respect  of  the  people.  Stores 
in  England  deliver  the  smallest  package,  even  a  paper  of  pins  or  a  bar 
of  soap.  There  as  in  Africa  the  gentleman  or  lady  is  not  expected  to 
carry  a  parcel  on  the  thoroughfare. 

The  people  of  Africa  have  a  systematic  mode  of  computation. 
They  count  in  an  arithmetical  manner:  Lundarro  na  makau,  lundarro 
na  bibba,  lundarro  na  halarro,  etc. — ten  and  one,  ten  and  two,  ten 


OBSERVATIONS   AMONG  THE  CAMEROON  TRIBES.     "         205 

and  three,  and  on  to  five  twenties  and  ten,  one  hundred  and  ten,  etc. 
They  shave  their  heads  and  cover  themselves  with  ashes  and  sit  on 
the  floor  to  mourn,  as  did  Job  and  those  of  his  day.  From  whence 
did  these  people  inherit  these  customs,  if  they  came  from  baboons  and 
gorillas,  as  some  wise  ones  would  have  us  believe?  What  about  the 
native  pride  they  possess,  if  they  were  only  designed  as  hewers  of 
wood  and  carriers  of  water?  In  their  presence  there  you  feel  sur- 
rounded with  a  halo  of  ancient  history,  not  a  few  paragraphs  of 
which  may  be  read  on  the  faces  and  forms  of  these  peculiar  men. 
They  have  a  language,  and  it  is  grammatical;  225  dialects  in  Africa, 
all  springing  from  but  two  principal  languages,  and  no  doubt  those 
two  were  permanent,  as  they  have  rules  of  grammar  which  could  not 
possibly  have  been  identical  at  any  time.  They  take  a  pride  in  theii 
language  and  speak  it  properly.  In  order  to  have  a  secret  language 
that  they  may  use  in  public  for  private  purposes,  they  perform  the 
wonderful  feat  of  speaking  their  language  backward,  and  no  one  who 
has  learned  their  language  can  understand  them  in  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  reverse  every  word  of  a  sentence. 

Is  this  genius  of  the  brute  creation,  or  is  it  not  related  to  that 
high  order  of  genius  that  runs  railroads  and  speaks  along  the  track  of 
electric  wires?  They  make  wine  and  understand  the  processes  of  dis- 
tillation, an  art  perhaps  they  might  do  well  without,  but  yet  it  makes 
them  akin  to  the  distillers  of  this  country,  of  whom  we  have  not  a 
few.  They  attain  a  knowledge  of  some  of  the  metals,  and  there  are 
metallurgists  among  them.  They  know  they  are  malleable,  and  make 
rings  and  anklets  (bangs)  of  gold,  and  tools  of  iron.  On  their  houses 
also  are  pictures  of  snakes,  lizards  and  men  drawn  with  clay  of  dif- 
ferent colors.  Artists — a  nation  whose  ancestors  looked  upon  the 
wall  of  Carthagenia  and  beheld  the  work  of  masters  of  the  pencil,  and 
the  handicraft  is  transmitted  and  remembered. 

The  tribes  of  the  interior  towns  are  not  so  large  as  those  who 
live  upon  river  courses  or  by  the  seaside.  The  reason  for  this  is  ob- 
vious. Water  people,  as  those  are  called  by  the  natives,  to  distinguish 
them  from  interior  people,  have  bathing  facilities,  and  they  always 
have  meat  all  the  year  round.  Those  who  live  remote  from  rivers 
suffer  for  meat  every  rainy  season  and  often  have  no  food  of  any 
kind.  The  elephants  are  numerous  at  this  season  and  destroy  the 
farm  products  of  the  people.  It  lains  and  they  can  hunt  but  little. 
When  the  ground  is  soft,  the  elephants  can  travel,  but  in  the  dry  sea- 
son the  little  stumps  that  would  give  way  under  them  in  the  wet  season 


206        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

pierce  and  bruise  their  feet  so  that  they  do  not  trouble  the  people,  but 
remain  up  near  the  interior  lakes  and  banks  of  large  rivers,  where  the 
ground  is  soft  to  their  feet. 

Africans  are  of  every  cast  of  complexion,  from  white  to  dark. 
The  worst  fright  1  had,  while  in  Africa,  was  occasioned  by  suddenly 
meeting  an  albino  man  while  out  hunting.  For  a  whole  year  we  had 
seen  only  dark  people.  No  European  had  passed  our  way  for  eighteen 
months.  1  was  not  expecting  to  meet  any  white  person  in  the  jungle, 
much  less  a  nude  albino.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  only  seen  children, 
and  mostly  infants,  when  all  at  once  in  the  turn  of  a  path  I  met  this 
albino.  Some  tribes  kill  the  albino  infant,  and  so  preserve  a  dark 
complexion  throughout  the  tribe.  They  believe  that  the  albino  is  the 
work  of  some  evil  spirit;  they  suffer  it  not  to  live.  Other  tribes  think 
it  is  beautiful,  and  say,  regarding  the  phenomenonof  its  appearance, 
that  "nature  was  playing."  So  this  white  being  they  regard  as  a 
pleasant  joke. 

Black  can  turn  to  white,  but  white  never  turns  to  black.  This 
looks  like  the  final  extinction  of  the  dark  races  of  men. 

The  arts  and  implements  of  the  western  tribes  of  Africa  are  few, 
but  are  ingenious  and  of  ancient  origin.  In  the  absence  of  the  gun, 
with  which  they  are  supplied  by  European  trade,  they  use  the  cross- 
bow of  early  days,  also  various  traps  and  nets  of  original  design,  the 
principle  of  which  is  borrowed  from  the  early  ages.  One  trap  they 
use  to  catch  animals  of  a  large  kind  is  especially  worthy  of  mention. 
A  dozen  men  pull  a  tree  over  and  bend  the  top  to  the  ground.  They 
make  a  noose  trap  with  a  large  loop,  and  attach  to  the  top  of  this  tree. 
A  bunch  of  bananas  is  so  placed  that  the  animal  that  touches  it  puts 
his  head  through  the  loop,  detaches  a  spring  and  frees  the  tree.  They 
find  their  game  suspended  in  the  air  next  morning. 

They  have  blacksmiths  and  silversmiths.  These  smiths  make  their 
farm  implements.  They  make  a  new  bellows  every  morning,  when 
the  dew  is  on  the  banana  leaves  and  they  are  soft  and  flexible.  The 
native  surgeon  has  a  case  of  three  instruments.  All  persons  who  die 
are  dissected,  both  adults  and  infants,  and  he  decides  the  cause  of 
death,  which  is,  of  course,  of  a  superstitious  nature. 

Interior  towns  have  a  fire  department.  Three  hundred  men  get 
as  near  a  house  which  is  on  fire  as  they  possibly  can  and  simulta- 
neously fire  into  and  extinguish  it.  One-third  of  the  guns  in  a  town 
are  always  loaded.  These  people  are  fruitful  of  expedients — build 
houses  and  make  canoes  with  only  a  cutlass  and  axe  to  work  with. 


OBSERVATIONS  AMONG  THE  CAMEROON  TRIBES.  207 

They  surround  a  country  of  a  mile  square  with  nets  of  native  cord, 
six  feet  high,  and  kill  a  hundred  animals  that  are  thus  enclosed.  They 
inoculate  their  bodies  by  puncturing  the  skin  with  a  sharp  instrument 
and  bathing  in  a  decoction  of  bark,  which  prevents  animals  from 
scenting  them.  One  hunter  thus  gets  so  near  a  sleeping  leopard  that 
he  brings  him  down  from  his  jungle  bed  at  one  shot  of  his  gun. 
They  are  good  cooks,  and  they  can  make  a  monkey  stew  or  elephant 
foot  jelly  fine  and  palatable  enough  to  suit  the  most  fastidious. 

I  believe  that  in  the  Bakundu  language  of  the  west  interior  of 
Africa  we  have  a  sample  of  the  real  original  negro  language.  There 
are  225  dialects  in  Africa,  all  of  which  spring  out  of  two  principal 
.anguages— the  Semitic,  or  Eastern,  and  Bantu,  or  Western.  The 
Bantu  is  so  called  because  ba  and  fu  prevail  through  the  western  dia- 
lects either  as  anterior  or  posterior  syllables.  The  Bakundu  dialect 
admits  of  conjugation  and  has  all  the  tenses  but  one,  vi^. :  the  past 
perfect.  The  language  is  poor  in  number  of  words,  but  rich  in  depth 
and  beautiful  figurative  expression  of  a  terse  character.  By  the  addi- 
tion of  an  affix  all  adjectives  are  turned  into  verbs.  (Ex. :  Lauli — 
beautiful;  lauliseke — to  beautify,) 

There  lies  a  great  future  before  this  people  when  they  overtake 
the  sciences  of  our  day,  when  they  walk  the  furrow  of  a  modern 
plow,  when  they  know  the  culture  of  the  nineteenth  century  and 
cross  their  squares  in  electric  cars,  when  their  nude  and  tattered  modes 
of  dress  succumb  to  the  fashions  of  modern  ages,  when  the  horse-shoe 
falls  from  over  the  door  and  the  witch-charm  is  forgotten.  They  will 
read  their  own  history  in  the  gloomy  and  distant  past  and  wonder  at 
the  days  of  darkness.  A  sage  will  be  a  historian,  and  He  with  a  pen 
made  of  all  the  forests,  and  the  sea  for  his  ink,  He  will  write  the  glo- 
rious ecstasy  of  modern  Africa. 


ETHNOLOGICAL  EXHIBIT  OF  THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITU- 
TION AT  THE  WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 

BY  OTIS  T.  MASON. 

IN  the  study  of  ethnology  the  following  terms  must  be  kept  sharply 
distinct,  though  they  apply  to  the  same  objects  observed  from 
different  points  of  view: 

1.  Blood  or  consanguinity. 

2.  Language  or  speech. 

3.  Arts  and  industries. 

4.  Nationality,  civil  life  and  government  science. 

5.  Systems  of  mythologic  and  philosophic  religion. 

6.  Anthropophysiography,  hexiology. 

When  the  human  species  is  studied  from  the  point  of  view  of 
consanguinity,  the  student  is  entirely  in  the  area  of  zoology.  Men 
are  regarded  as  animals.  They  differ  in  biological  characteristics. 
Under  the  influence  of  causes  known  and  unknown  there  have  come 
to  be  races  of  men.  A  race  is  a  group  of  human  beings  that  have 
lived  in  a  certain  area  long  enough  to  have  acquired  differential  marks 
that  are  hereditable.  The  longer  they  live  in  that  area  undisturbed 
and  unmixed  with  other  races,  the  more  specialized  do  they  become. 
We  can  imagine  a  time  when  the  centrifugal  forces  were  most  active 
in  migration  and  colonization. 

Departing  from  the  original  center  or  centers,  groups  of  homo- 
geneous people  went  out  to  be  separated  for  centuries.  For  a  long 
time  these  separated  groups  had  no  contact  with  one  another.  That 
was  the  epoch  of  greatest  differentiation.  The  expansion  of  these 
groups  in  time  brought  their  outer  margins  nearer  together.  A  desire 
also  to  multiply  the  means  of  gratification  set  a-going  commercial 
activities,  and  these  two  forces,  overlapping,  began  to  wear  away  the 
distinctions  between  races  and  to  break  up  the  discrete  groups  of  men. 
All  we  can  say  now  concerning  the  term  "races"  is  that  modified  iso- 
lation still  exists,  and  of  any  people  it  can  be  said  that  they  constitute 
a  race  just  so  far  as  they  are  shut  oiT  from  the  rest  of  the  world  and 
are  propagated  by  intermarriage  alone.  They  should  also  present  some 
definite  biological  mark. 

203 


ETHNOLOGICAL   EXHIBIT  OF  THE   SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.  209 

2.  When  the  races  of  men  were  forming:  and  the  groups  were 
segregated,  each  race  developed  a  speech  and  a  type  of  speech  doubt- 
less, though  it  is  not  here  al^lrmed  that  the  four  great  forms  of  lan- 
guage were  thus  produced.  \n  that  early  time  languages  were  origin- 
ated by  the  races  and  were  excellent  indications  of  consanguinity. 
The  men  who  spoke  the  same  language  were  of  the  same  people.  So 
long  as  the  centrifugal  force  was  in  operation  alone,  this  was  the 
whole  truth;  but  when  the  races  began  to  overlap  and  to  intermingle, 
the  causes  which  operated  to  produce  mixture  of  blood  did  not  operate 
in  the  same  way  to  produce  mixture  of  language.  At  the  present  time, 
therefore,  the  question  of  how  far  the  possession  of  a  common  speech 
is  an  indication  of  the  blood  relationship  of  those  who  speak  it  must 
be  kept  entirely  separate  from  the  study  of  languages  on  their  own 
account.  The  science  of  glossology  or  comparative  philology  is  now 
studied  by  methods  of  its  own  regardless  of  the  people  who  speak. 
Philologists  do  not  pretend  to  be  ethnologists. 

3.  Upon  the  third  point,  how  to  study  arts  and  industries,  it  must 
be  observed  that  in  the  primitive  period  of  the  races  physiography 
suggested  a  rule  for  the  arts,  and  society  created  a  demand  for  their 
products.  The  activities  of  each  race  depended  upon  the  atmosphere, 
its  density,  temperature,  moisture  and  degree  of  purity.  And  inti- 
mately associated  with  these  phenomena  would  be  the  amount  of  dis- 
tribution of  rainfall,  dew,  frost,  ice  and  snow.  Each  region  would 
also  have  its  natural  scenery,  sea-shore,  plains,  lowlands  and  highlands. 
Also  its  mineral  productions,  its  plants  and  animals,  as  a  whole,  would 
be  to  each  of  these  areas  a  sort  of  genus  loci.  In  contact  with  this  en- 
vironment of  which  I  have  just  spoken  each  race  would  be  compelled 
to  invent  a  series  of  arts  connected  with  food,  clothing,  shelter,  devel- 
oped in  the  exploration  of  nature  for  material  and  the  preparation  of 
the  material  in  various  crafts  and  the  consumption  of  the  prod- 
uct. The  intimate  association  of  these  arts  with  the  locality 
would  operate  independently  of  races  when  they  came  together  in 
the  centripetal  process  of  commingling  them.  When  the  primitive 
consanguineous  groups  began  to  commingle,  the  arts  did  not 
necessarily  follow  the  same  rule.  It  is  true  and  also  interesting  to 
note  that  groups  of  kindred  in  moving  from  the  area  have  carried  with 
them  the  industries  of  the  fatherland.  But  these  industries  would  not 
always  fit  into  the  new  social  and  natural  environments.  For  a  brief 
period  the  love  of  old  fashions  and  the  knack  of  practicing  familiar 
trades  either  kept  the  old  art  alive  or  preserved  it  with  certain  modili- 


210        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

cations,  but  in  the  long  run  the  people  had  to  succumb  to  the  order  of 
languages  inspired  by  the  environment  and  were  compelled  to  practice 
the  arts  that  were  dictated  by  Nature.  When  the  ethnologist  comes 
to  study  consanguinity  and  language  and  arts  in  relation  to  one  an- 
other, this  is  his  perplexity— that  he  cannot  tell  always  whether  a  cer- 
tain phenomenon  is  a  survival  of  the  old  life  or  a  creation  of  the  new 
surroundings. 

4.  By  nationality  in  this  connection  is  meant  civil  government, 
whatever  form  it  may  assume.  Whenever  the  phrase  "  Russian  Em- 
pire, Germany,  France"  is  used,  it  is  well  known  that  the  lands  and 
the  people  under  the  rule  of  the  Czar,  the  Emperor  and  the  President 
are  meant,  whatever  may  be  their  blood,  their  language  or  their  occu- 
pation. In  primitive  society  civil  government  belongs  especially  to 
the  tribe  or  the  union  of  tribes  called  the  nation.  The  adoption  of 
strangers  into  each  body  politic,  especially  of  women,  has  always 
taken  place,  but  to  a  very  much  less  degree  in  savagery  than  in  civiliza- 
tion. However,  it  is  in  this  regard  that  men  segregate  themselves 
more  readily  than  in  any  other.  The  Eskimo  are  of  one  blood,  speak- 
ing the  same  language,  practicing  arts  that  are  very  similar,  but  they 
are  split  up  into  hundreds  of  little  governments,  in  which  the  people 
are  held  together  by  the  loosest  kind  of  social  bond,  and  which  have 
nothing  to  do  with  one  another.  Among  the  civilized  communities 
there  has  grown  up  a  reverence  for  the  government,  called  patriotism, 
and  this,  combined  with  the  love  of  one's  native  land,  comes  as  a  strong 
motive  in  holding  the  people  of  a  nation  together.  Not  so  in  savagery. 
Among  the  American  tribes  of  Indians,  indeed,  the  strongest  civilized 
bond  is  that  of  kinship,  which,  after  all,  is  a  racial  characteristic. 

The  beliefs  and  philosophies  of  each  separate  people  are  the  prod- 
uct of  their  entire  life  and  experience.  Types  of  beliefs  with  refer- 
ence to  this  world,  in  which  we  live,  and  to  the  spirit  world  which 
lies  all  around  us  invisible,  have  been  generated  by  the  environment 
in  which  the  people  have  been  developed  more  than  by  their  blood- 
relation5;hip  and  language.  The  record  of  these  is  preserved  in  the 
language,  but  language  does  not  create  them.  They  are  the  creatures 
of  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  winds,  the  lightning,  the  rain  and 
drought,  great  sheets  of  water,  mountains,  and  even  the  commonest 
things  connected  with  daily  life.  There  is,  therefore,  the  most  inti- 
mate connection  between  the  practical  activities  of  the  people,  their 
artistic  productions,  their  philosophies  and  their  myths.  With  these 
ideas  clearly  in  mind,  as  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Ethnology  in 


ETHNOLOGICAL   EXHIBIT  OF  THE   SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.  21  1 

the  United  States  National  Museum,  charged  with  the  Ethnological 
Exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  I  have  endeavored  to 
bring  together  the  results  of  the  labors  of  men  connected  with  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  and  with  the  Government  for  the  period  of 
fifty  years.  I  have  been  led  to  do  this  in  order  to  avoid  interfering 
with  the  work  of  the  Department  of  Ethnology  at  the  World's  Colum- 
bian Exposition  at  large. 

An  enlarged  copy  of  the  linguistic  map  prepared  by  Major  Pow- 
ell (16x12  feet)  has  been  made  and  hung  upon  the  wall  in  the 
Smithsonian  space.  Of  the  fifty-seven  linguistic  stocks  the  great  ma- 
jority of  them  are  represented  now  by  a  very  small  number  of  indi- 
viduals who  have  lost  their  own  connection  with  their  ancient  aborig- 
inal life  except  the  few  words  and  phrases  of  their  language.  These 
had  to  be  neglected.  Again,  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  the  Pueblo 
region,  and  upon  the  plains  of  the  Great  West,  the  natural  food  sup- 
ply and  their  environmental  influence  have  invited  the  assemblage  of 
a  large  number  of  linguistic  stocks.  But  at  the  time  of  the  discovery 
the  North  American  continent  was  inhabited  by  Indians  speaking  a 
few  great  families  of  languages.  These  are,  in  alphabetical  order,  the 
Algonquian,  Athapaskan,  Eskimauan,  Iroquoian,  Keresan,  Kiowan, 
Koluschan,  Muskogean,  Piman,  Salishan,  Siouan,  Skittagetan,  Tan- 
oan,  Wakashan,  Yuman,  Zunian. 

So  far  as  possible,  1  have  arranged  the  costumes  and  art  productions 
of  these  families  in  separate  alcoves,  so  that  the  student  taking  his  po- 
sition in  one  of  them  may  have  before  his  eye  practical  solution  of  some 
of  the  theoretical  questions  which  have  recently  arisen  concerning  the 
connection  between  race  and  language  and  industries  and  philosophies. 

In  order  to  afford  the  student  another  point  of  view  from  which 
to  look  at  the  same  set  of  phenomena,  a  few  alcoves  have  been  ar- 
ranged upon  another  plan,  in  which  a  typical  industry  is  made  the 
primary  classific  concept,  tribe  or  jiationality  the  second  concept,  and 
linguistic  affinities  the  third  concept. 

In  the  Woman's  Building  1  have  arranged  a  large  collection  on 
the  basis  of  sex.  1  have  said  elsewhere  that  Mr.  Spencer's  division  of 
the  history  of  culture  into  two  epochs,  the  primitive  one  being  called 
the  age  of  militancy  and  the  succeeding  one  the  age  of  industrialism, 
applies  more  to  sex  than  it  does  to  ages  of  culture.  Thus  among  un- 
civilized races  or  peoples  there  has  always  been  a  sex  of  militancy,  of 
the  male  members  of  the  tribe,  and  a  sex  of  industrialism,  meaning  the 
female  members  of  the  tribe. 


212         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

The  exhibit  in  the  Woman's  Building  is  really  a  form  to  show 
what  has  been  woman's  share  in  the  development  of  peaceful  arts.  A 
portion  of  one  of  the  four  lower  rooms  around  the  center  of  the  build- 
ing is  laid  off  into  twelve  groups  of  objects.  In  each  group  a  certain 
art  is  traced  in  its  manifestation  among  the  three  modern  types  of 
savagery,  namely:  the  American,  the  Negroid  and  the  Malayo-Poly- 
nesian.     The  arts  thus  laid  out  are  as  follows: 

1.  Preparing  the  food. 

2.  Serving  the  food. 

3.  Basketry. 

4.  Hand-weaving. 

5.  Loom- weaving. 

6.  Making  of  bark  cloth. 

7.  Netting  and  crocheting. 

8.  Lace-making. 

9.  Pottery. 

10.  Primitive  gleaning  and  carrying. 

11.  Grinding  of  food. 

12.  Carrying  of  burdens. 

The  space  allotted  has  permitted  me  to  make  only  a  partial  ex- 
hibit of  these  leading  ideas  of  which  I  have  just  spoken.  The  results 
in  their  particulars  may  be  here  stated.  As  is  well  known,  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region  and  the  plains  of  the  Great  West  were  once  the 
home  of  the  buffalo,  and  the  stocks  that  lived  upon  that  area,  the 
Siouan,  Caddoan,  Kiowan,  Algonquian,  and  to  a  limited  extent  the 
Shoshonean,  were  dominated  in  their  activities  very  largely  by  this 
fact,  yet  not  all  together,  for  the  Pawnees  lived  in  earth  lodges,  the 
fashion  of  which  they  brought  from  some  other  region,  while  the 
Siouan  tribes  lived  in  skin  tents  or  tepees.  The  Shoshonean  stock 
aiford  an  excellent  study  of  this  question  of  environment  as  against 
blood  and  language  and  ideas.  This  stock  occupies  the  Great  Ameri- 
can Desert  or  Interior  Basin.  In  the  north  and  east  they  were  meat- 
eaters  and  dwelt  in  tents.  In  the  south  and  southwest  they  are  agri- 
cultural, dwelling  in  pueblos,  and  practicing  arts  unknown  to  their 
northern  kindred.  In  this  same  pueblo  region,  where  the  people  lived 
in  adobe  houses,  cultivated  corn,  beans  and  pumpkins,  and  now  have 
flocks  of  sheep,  there  are  five  distinct  linguistic  stocks — Shoshonean, 
Tanoan,  Keresan,  Zunian  and  Athapaskan.  The  Navajo  tribe  were 
also  pueblo-builders,  an  art  which  their  kindred,  the  Apaches,  never 
began  to  learn. 


ETHNOLOGICAL   EXHIBIT  OF  THE   SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.   2l3 

Of  the  fifty-seven  stocks  in  North  America,  about  forty  dwell  on 
the  Pacific  slope.  The  arts  practiced  by  the  people  speaking  these 
languages  have  been  developed  in  connection  with  the  natural  re- 
sources of  this  coast.  From  the  point  of  view  of  material,  geograph- 
ically, the  Pacific  coast  may  be  divided  into  the  Ivory  region,  the 
Black  Slate  region,  the  Giant  Cedar  region,  the  region  of  Textile 
Grasses,  and  the  Arid  region.  From  the  point  of  view  of  food  there 
are  really  two  characteristic  areas,  the  fish  region  and  the  nut  region. 

The  black  slate  and  the  cedar  lend  themselves  to  the  carver's  tools, 
so  that  the  whole  totemic  system  of  all  the  tribes  is  worked  out  into 
an  infinite  variety  of  carvings  which  are  never  absent  from  the  house, 
furniture,  clothing  and  the  tools  of  the  people.  The  inexhaustible 
supplies  of  fish  and  the  extension  of  an  archipelago  for  many  thou- 
sands of  miles  developed  the  great  fishing  canoes,  which  are  marvels 
of  savage  workmanship.  The  cedar  bark,  the  long,  slender  pine 
roots  and  the  textile  grasses  are  the  material  causes  of  the  wonderful 
variety  of  textile  products  in  this  region.  The  abundance  of  pine  nuts 
and  acorns  in  certain  areas  developed  the  harvester,  the  burden-bearer 
and  the  miller  with  their  appliances.  The  bow  and  arrow  had  a  re- 
markable development  on  this  western  coast.  There  is  a  lack  here, 
as  in  the  arctic  regions,  of  hickory,  ash,  osage-orange  and  other  dif- 
ferent elastic  woods,  so  the  natives  have  been  driven  to  substitute  the 
most  ingenious  devices.  The  Shoshonean  and  the  tribes  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  ply  and  put  back  of  the  broad,  thin  bow  of  yew  a 
mass  of  finely  shredded  sinew  mixed  with  animal  glue.  This  was 
laid  on  so  carefully  as  to  seem  a  part  of  the  wood,  and  with  so  much 
skill  as  to  get  the  greatest  result,  without  shrinking  or  breaking  the 
wood. 

The  Eskimo  arrived  at  the  same  result  in  another  way.  They 
make  a  very  long  twine  of  finely  twisted  sinew  and  apply  this  in  the 
form  of  a  cable  to  the  back  of  the  bow  made  of  twin-wood.  The 
arrows  of  the  Pacific  coast  present  the  greatest  variety  in  the  world. 
It  is  impossible  to  describe  them  here.  They  will  be  minutely  worked 
out  in  a  paper  which  1  am  now  preparing.  It  should  be  stated,  how- 
ever, of  them,  that  in  constructing  each  one  of  them  the  savage  me- 
chanic has  been  guided  by  the  materials  that  were  neai  his  hands  and 
the  kind  of  work  that  had  to  be  done  by  his  arrow.  He  has  in  each 
case  placed  marks  of  his  individual  ownership  and  of  his  tribe  some- 
where upon  the  shaft.  But  these  marks  leave  no  deep  impression. 
They  are  only  skin-deep;  they  are  never  of  the  first  importance.    The 


214        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

essential  characteristics  are  due  to  environmental  causes — the  material 
out  of  which  the  object  is  to  be  made,  the  facilities  for  making  it,  and 
the  work  to  be  done. 

The  conclusion  at  which  1  have  arrived  from  the  arrangement 
pursued  in  the  Smithsonian  exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position may  be  stated  somewhat  as  follows: 

The  American  aborigines  are  practically  of  one  blood  or  race 
throughout  the  entire  continent.  Dr.  Brinton  emphatically  proclaims 
this  view.  Professor  Putnam  seems  to  hold  to  a  double  race,  two  races 
in  fact,  one  developed  in  the  north,  the  dolichocephalic,  and  one  in 
the  south,  the  brachycephalic.  The  modern  aborigines  are  a  mixture 
of  the  two. 

One  thing  is  certain,  that  there  are  on  this  continent  a  great 
number  of  culture  areas,  where  groups  of  people  have  gone  and  have 
developed  hundreds  of  separate  languages,  social  structures,  sciences 
and  mythologic  systems.  They  have  not  remained  there  long  enough 
to  breed  races  with  differential  and  hereditable  characters.  But  they 
have  in  these  habitats  also  worked  out  many  series  of  arts,  both  in  the 
practical  and  the  aesthetic  class. 

As  in  all  other  parts  of  the  world,  so  in  America  there  is  a  law  of 
relationship  between  the  tribes  of  men  and  the  culture  area.  There  is 
an  element  of  intellectuality  and  an  element  of  materiality  in  each  hu- 
man product.  The  former  belongs  rather  to  the  people  subjectively 
considered,  the  latter  to  the  soil,  objectively  considered.  Language, 
civil  government,  science  and  religion  not  being  made  out  of  any  ma- 
terial things,  and  being  easily  carried  about  and  practiced  from  land  to 
land,  are  of  the  subjective  or  intellectual  class.  These,  language  es- 
pecially, being  the  product  of  people  who  are  blood  kindred,  form  the 
best  guide  to  the  study  of  race.  It  is  not  forgotten,  however,  that  the 
human  species  has  long  since  passed  into  the  centripetal  or  congrega- 
tive  stage  of  culture,  that  every  tribe  has  received  elements  of  its  lan- 
guage from  others,  and  that  whole  masses  of  people  have  been  forc- 
ibly compelled  to  accept  the  language  of  their  conquerors.  In  such 
violent  transitions,  however,  the  conquered  have  often  refused  to 
intermarry,  and  have  preserved  the  very  best  marks  of  race,  namely, 
their  zoological  characteristics. 

The  Bureau  of  Ethnology  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  has 
most  assiduously  devoted  itself  to  the  investigation  of  the  languages, 
the  sociology,  the  science  and  the  religions  of  the  American  aborigines. 
The  results  have  been  published  to  the  world,  and  they  agree  with  the 


ETHNOLOGICAL   EXHIBIT  OF  THE   SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.  21 5 

statements  here  made  that  the  diflferentiations  among  these  savages 
have  been  and  are  largely  upon  the  intellectual  elements  of  activity, 
what  Mr.  Spencer  has  called  the  regulative  side  of  industry. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  in  every  one  of  the  regu- 
lative or  intellectual  classes  of  action  there  is  a  material  element. 
Languages  are  not  only  spoken,  but  written,  and  speaking  and  writing 
are  not  the  only  way  men  have  of  expressing  thought.  There  is  a 
proposition  in  every  work  of  men's  hands.  Indeed,  there  are  many 
propositions.  The  same  is  more  true  of  social  life,  science  and  relig- 
ion. Each  one  of  these  involves  the  use  of  places  and  things;  of  sub- 
stantial materials,  of  apparatus,  of  activities  of  the  body,  of  perceptible 
results.  The  acts  of  life,  on  the  contrary,  are  in  each  culture  area  in- 
digenous. They  are  materialized  under  the  patronage  and  director- 
ship of  the  region.  As  1  have  said,  a  man  or  a  woman  in  doing  work 
must  have  materials  (mineral,  vegetal,  animal);  he  must  work  with 
substantial  apparatus;  the  processal  part  of  its  work  is  bounded  by 
natural  forms  and  places  and  seasons.  What  he  creates  is  a  thing 
which  may  or  may  not  be  of  any  use  anywhere  else,  since  each  industrial 
product  is  in  a  double  set  of  relations,  being  the  finished  product  of 
one  trade  and  the  tool  of  another.  You  can  see  how  easy  it  is  for  a 
people  to  carry  their  speech  with  them,  compared  with  the  diiliculty  of 
transporting  their  etfects,  their  impedimenta.  Even  though  they  do 
not  actually  carry  the  things,  they  must  bear  in  mind  all  that  enter 
into  their  making  and  their  use. 

But,  as  there  is  solid  material  associated  with  the  intellectual  cul- 
ture concepts,  so  there  is  an  ideal  in  all  substantial  activities.  These 
are  what  the  tribe  or  the  horde  may  freely  carry  about.  I  have  al- 
ready spoken  of  this. 

There  are  degrees  of  ideality  among  the  industries  of  men,  and 
the  same  craft  passes  on  in  its  elaboration  from  the  natural  to  the  arti- 
ficial, from  the  materialistic  to  the  ideal.  In  primitive  life  each  culture 
region  decides  what  food,  clothing,  shelter  and  bed  men  must  use. 
But,  as  they  progress,  they  become  independent  of  this  law,  they 
widen  the  culture  area  by  the  multiplication  of  wants  and  the  refine- 
ment of  taste  until  the  whole  world  becomes  an  unique,  comprehen- 
sive and  undivided  home  for  the  whole  race. 

Already  this  dispersive  work  had  begun  when  America  was  dis- 
covered. Commerce  had  scattered  mineral  substances  far  and  wide. 
No  one  knows  where  the  Pueblo  people,  the  Mexicans,  the  Peruvians 
obtained  their  com,  melons  and  multitudinous  beans.    The  history  of 


216         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

the  Plains  Indians  regarding-  their  houses,  bows  and  arrows,  and  even 
their  dress,  will  be  difficult  to  write.  Even  the  ideal  forms,  the  artistic 
forms  and  patterns,  had  begun  to  scatter  and  to  possess  this  continent. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  decide  whether  the  curious  shell  gorgets  de- 
scribed by  Mr.  Holmes  were  made  on  the  spot  in  Tennessee  from  a 
shell  bought  in  Florida,  or  bought  already  made  in  Florida  by  one 
who  had  migrated  from  Mexico;  or  bought  in  Mexico  already  made 
from  a  Florida  shell  and  carried  to  Tennessee.  The  number  of  ex- 
amples might  be  multiplied,  but  1  think  1  have  made  myself  clear. 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY. 
An  Experimental  Study. 

BY  FRANK  HAMILTON  GUSHING. 

IN  the  winter  of  l890-'9l,  I  gathered,  on  the  Canadian  shore  of 
Lake  Erie,  opposite  Butfalo,  a  considerable  collection  of  potsherds 
showing  textile  impressions  of  cordage  and  netting,  both  coarse 
and  fine.  These  sherds  were,  in  this  respect,  strikingly  similar  to  the 
primitive  pottery  of  other  shore-lands  along  the  great  lakes,  rivers 
and  sea  coasts,  not  only  of  the  United  States,  but  also  of  the  Old 
World.  Recalling  the  fact  that  I  had  very  generally  observed,  in  col- 
lections of  ancient  pottery  from  such  sources,  that  these  features  were 
more  constantly  associated  with  the  pottery  remains  apparently  of 
fisher-folk  than  with  those  of  tribes  in  other  conditions  of  life,  1  was 
led  to  make  careful  comparison  of  specimens  in  collections  from 
Oneida,  Cayuga,  Onondaga  and  Chautauqua  lakes,  as  well  as  from  the 
shores  of  Lake  Ontario,  with  specimens  in  collections  from  interior 
portions  of  the  State,  also  abundantly  represented  in  my  boyhood 
gatherings.  The  result  was  striking.  I  found  that  in  no  case  did 
these  features  of  the  shore-land  pottery  of  at  least  the  largest  of  these 
lakes  characterize  to  any  extent  the  inland  pottery.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  pottery  of  the  lake  shores,  even  when,  as  shown  by  asso- 
ciated relics,  it  had  been  the  work  of  tribes  from  the  inland  (probably 
during  their  fishing  seasons),  rarely  showed  characteristics  of  inland 
decoration  or  form.  This  led  naturally  to  the  conclusion  that  some- 
thing in  the  habits  and  practices  of  the  fisher  mode  of  life  itself  had 
influenced  the  methods  of  manufacture,  development  of  forms,  and 
even  decorations,  of  pottery  in  ancient  fishing-camps,  especially  of 
such  vessels  as  had  evidently  been  used  for  cooking. 

In  view  of  this  conclusion,  I  more  carefully  examined  the  rich 
Erie  shore  middings,  seeking  not  only  for  relics  themselves,  but  also 
for  any  traces  in  the  soil  or  hearth-sites  which  might  help  me  to  de- 
termine how  clay  had  been  procured,  manipulated,  fashioned  and 
burned  to  form  so  distinct  a  type  of  ware.  In  an  outlying  portion  of 
the  large  camp-ground  1  was  examining  many  of  the  midding-sites 
had  almost  disappeared,  the  wind  having  drifted  the  sand  away  from 

217 


218        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

them  until  only  the  foundations  of  hearths  and  the  heavier  stones  and 
implements  once  used  about  them  were  left.  In  such  places  I  found, 
now  and  then,  rings  or  circles  of  indurated  and  more  or  less  black- 
ened and  reddened  sand,  varying  in  size  from  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  or 
more  in  diameter.  The  contiguous  denuded  hearths  were  character- 
ized likewise  by  reddened  and  blackened  sand,  which  occurred,  how- 
ever, in  patches  more  or  less  continuous  and  not  so  round,  not  in 
circles.  Stones,  too,  showing  the  effects  of  fire,  always  appeared 
within  or  around  these  larger  hearth-patches,  although  not  always 
found  directly  associated  with  the  circles  in  question.  I  concluded, 
therefore,  that  these  circles  had  been  formed  for  use  in  some  special 
process,  and  was  inclined,  at  first,  to  believe  that  they  had  been  used 
in  firing  pottery.  On  carefully  excavating  some  of  them,  I  ascer- 
tained that  they  were  the  remains  of  conical  concavities  or  pits,  their 
bottoms  and  sides  quite  compact,  as  though  a  small  quantity  of  clay 
or  mud  had  been  mixed  with  the  sand  composing  their  perimeters  and 
had  hardened  by  drying  or  by  having  been  burned.  Thus  these  rings 
were,  it  would  seem,  the  worn-off  edges  of  such  conical,  sometimes 
funnel-shaped  pits,  recalling  the  large  mescal  pits  and  ripening-ovens 
of  the  Southwestern  tribes,  and  at  once  suggesting  that  these  small 
sand-pits  may  have  been  modeled  after  pits  in  the  sand  once  likewise 
used  for  baking,  say  fish  or  other  food. 

Reminded  of  a  practice  of  the  wandering  Walapais  (Hualapais) 
observed  by  me  whilst  exploring  the  plateaus  of  Western  Arizona  in 
the  summer  of  1881,  I  was  the  more  inclined  to  take  this  view,  yet  to 
modify  and  amplify  it  considerably.  These  Walapais  live  among 
the  great  lava  buttes  and  on  the  desolate  arid  plateaus  to  the  west  of 
Cataract  Canon  in  Yavapai  County,  Arizona.  During  dry  seasons 
they  store  water  in  sandy  arroyos  or  at  the  foot  of  lava  gulches,  and 
even  in  the  coarse  talus,  simply  by  forming  pot-shaped  pits,  sometimes 
of  considerable  size,  and  plastering  the  bottoms  and  sides  of  them  with 
clay.  Without  further  ado  the  water  is  introduced  and  covered  over 
or  sealed  to  prevent  evaporation.  The  clay,  even  though  plastic, 
renders  the  porous  soil  or  talus  in  which  these  water-pits  are  excavated 
perfectly  impervious,  so  long  as  they  contain  enough  water  to  keep  it 
thus  plastic  or  moist. 

I  conceived  that  the  mere  observation  of  nature  had  in  times  past 
taught  these  rude  people  this  simple  and  ingenious  expedient.  In  that 
desert  and  sandy  region  heavy  showers  fall  during  certain  months, 
filling  the  arroyos  with  freshets  which,  when  the  rain  ceases,  speedily 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY.  219 

disappear,  flowing  rapidly  away  and  being  drunk  up  in  the  porous, 
sandy  bottoms.  Often,  however,  these  arroyos  cleave  through  argil- 
lacious  banks,  and  some  of  the  clay  of  these,  being  levegated  and 
washed  down  by  the  rushing  water,  is  deposited  in  depressions  along 
their  courses,  especially  where  these  are  deep  or  occur  at  turns  or 
eddies  in  the  arroyos.  Thus,  these  water-worn  hollows  or  pits  are 
lined  with  fine  clay  silt,  and  long  after  the  stream  has  disappeared  in 
other  places,  and  the  surrounding  bottoms  are  parched  and  dusty,  the 
traveler  may  find  water  in  the  natural  clay-lined  reservoirs  thus  formed, 
and  readily  learn,  as  the  Walapais  of  old  have  learned,  the  lesson  they 
convey. 

Returning  to  a  consideration  of  my  theory  regarding  a  possible 
early  use  of  clay-lined  sand-pits  for  cookery,  it  now  occurred  to  me 
that  if  such  were  used  they  might  in  turn  have  been  suggested  by  like 
observations — say  at  the  mouths  of  streams  along  sandy,  freshet-washed 
shores — and  might  thus  have  come  to  be  made  and  utilized  not  only 
for  baking,  but  also  in  boiling,  by  means  of  hot  stones.  Indeed,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  this  latter  may  have  been  the  earlier  use  connected 
with  them,  and  that,  if  so,  the  discovery  of  pottery-making  in  pits,  or 
of  its  possibility,  must  have  followed  more  or  less  speedily  on  such 
usage,  and  that,  when  adopted,  the  practice  of  fashioning  pottery,  es- 
pecially for  cooking,  by  more  thinly  lining  such  sand-pits  with  suitable 
clay,  drying,  and  then  firing  them,  would  have  become  normal,  and 
might  naturally  have  persisted  to  quite  a  late  day.* 

I  therefore  determined  to  test  these  inferences  by  experiment.  On 
returning  home,  1  gathered  clay  and  a  quantity  of  sand.     With  the 


*  On  examining  the  proof-sheets  of  this  article,  Mr.  F.  W.  Hodge,  of  the 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  has  kindly  called  my  attention  to  a  passage  in 
the  work  of  Stephen  Powers  {Tribes  of  California  in  Contributions  to  North  Am- 
erican Ethnology,  Vol.  HI,  p.  150,  1877),  which  substantiates  almost  step  by  step 
this  course  of  reasoning,  the  more  so,  as  the  reasoning  in  question  was  based 
wholly  on  the  observations  and  experiments  recorded  in  the  text,  and  without 
knowledge  that  any  living  tribes  had  been  observed  actually  using  clay  or  mud- 
lined  pits  for  stone-boiling,  etc.  Speaking  of  the  Pomo  Indians  (a  coast  tribe 
of  Northwestern  California),  Mr.  Powers  says: 

"Buckeyes  are  poison,  but  they  extract  the  toxical  principal  from  them  by 
steaming  them  two  or  three  days  under  ground.  They  first  excavate  a  large 
hole,  pack  it  water-tight  around  the  sides,  burn  a  fire  therein  for  some  space  of 
time,  then  put  in  the  buckeyes  together  with  water  and  heated  stones,"  etc. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  further  observations  of  other  tribes  of  tiie  Calitornian 
coast  would  confirm,  by  living  examples,  yet  other  steps  in  the  development  of 
pit-made  pottery  as  traced  later  on  in  the  pages  of  this  article. 


220         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

latter  I  made  a  pot-shaped  pit  like  those  1  had  discovered  the  faint  re- 
mains of,  rubbing-  thick  clay-water  around  its  perimeter  to  make  the 
bottom  and  sides  firmer,  and  keep  the  vertical  portions  from  caving  in. 
I  allowed  this  form  to  dry.     In  the  course  of  only  two  or  three  hours 
it  had  become  comparatively  hard.     I  then  mixed  clay-paste,  with 
which  to  form,  inside  of  the  pit,  the  walls  of  a  vessel.    Whilst  the 
bottom  and  the  lowermost  portion  of  the  sides  of  an  incipient  vessel 
could  thus  be  formed  with  great  ease,  I  soon  found  that  it  was  nearly 
impossible  to  cause  the  thin  wall  of  clay  to  adhere  and  thus  retain  its 
position  higher  up.     It  theil  first  occurred  to  me  that  strips  of  bark,  or 
fiber,  or  netting,  might  be  pressed  into  the  pit  and  used  not  only  to 
hold  the  clay  in  place  around  its  sides  whilst  being  built  up,  but  also 
to  aid  in  lifting  the  green  vessel  out  when  fashioned,  for  drying.     I 
therefore  roughly  netted  together  some  coarse  cordage  in  the  form  of 
a  bag  of  suitable  size  and  introduced  this  into  the  pit.    The  first  ex- 
periment made  proved  a  failure.    When  I  had  built  up  the  clay  nearly 
to  the  margin  of  the  form,  its  sides  collapsed  inward,  netted  cordage 
and  all.     Again  1  proceeded  as  before,  this  time,  however,  weighting 
the  edge-strings  of  the  bag  down  to  the  surrounding"  surface  with 
rocks.     I  succeeded  perfectly  in  fashioning  the  vessel;  but,  on  endeav- 
oring to  draw  it  out,  found,  of  course,  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
lift  evenly  on  all  the  edge-strings,  else  the  still  soft  vessel  would  give 
way  or  at  best  be  utterly  distorted  when  taken  out  of  its  mould,  by  the 
unequal  strain  of  the  strings.     It  very  quickly  occurred  to  me  that 
these  difficulties  could  be  overcome  by  attaching  the  strings  to  a  hoop, 
then  lifting  the  vessel  out  by  means  of  that.    Following  this  plan,  I 
succeeded  completely.     The  vessel  left  its  bed  easily,  retaining  its 
shape  at  the  bottom  and  sides  perfectly,  but  both  the  net  and  the  hoop 
happened  to  be  too  small,  hence  the  rim  was  puckered  in  by  the  taut- 
ness  and  indrawing  of  the  strings  near  the  edge  and  was  thereby  con- 
siderably contracted  (as  shown  by  lines  a,  a,  a,  Fig.  2).     I  managed, 
however,  by  scraping  the  inside  of  this  rim  with  clam-shells,  to  at 
once  thin  it  and  restore  its  roundness  without  causing  it  again  to 
enlarge.     I  found,  moreover,  that  I  could  cause  the  vessel  to  con- 
tract still  more  just  below  the  rim,  by  constricting  it  with  a  band  tied 
around  the  net-support  at  this  point,  {b,  b,  b,  Fig.  3),  then  repeating 
the  scraping  process  (on  the  inside)  to  again  smooth  off  the  pucker- 
ings  or  corrugations  thus  made  and  to  reshape  and  toughen  or  weld 
the  rim  and  constriction.     After  smoothing  the  outside  of  the  vessel 
here  and  there  where  its  weight  had  caused  the  cords  (especially  at  the 


THE   GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND   POTTERY. 


221 


bottom)  to  cut  into  it  and  form  protruding  lumps  or  bulges  between 
the  meshes,  I  suspended  it  to  a  couple  of  poles,  supported  horizontally, 
and  left  it  to  swing  and  dry  in  the  wind  and  sun.  Thus  exposed,  it 
set  within  an  hour  or  two,  becoming  so  firm  that  1  successfully 
removed,  by  a  sort  of  gradual  peeling-off  process,  as  one  takes 
ol^"  a  tight  glove,  the  netted  bag  in  which  it  had  been  suspended. 
After  it  had  been  slightly  dressed  down  and  welded  where  necessary 
by  more  scraping  inside  and  out,  with  clam-shells,  I  was  surprised  and 
delighted  to  find  that  its  general  surface  presented  almost  the  exact 
appearance  of  the  outer  surfaces  of  the  sherds  I  had  been  finding,  save 
that  the  textile  impressions  were  coarser  in  my  specimen  than  in  the 
ancient  ones.  Another  feature  of  resemblance  was  even  more  striking. 
The  greater  number  and  slight  obliquity  of  cord  impressions  at  the 


Fig-.  1. 

rim,  where  by  binding  in  the  meshes  I  had  caused  them  to  gather  or 
closely  approach  each  other,  and  by  the  scraping  process  in  the  form- 
ing of  the  neck  had  caused  them  to  become  slightly  twisted  or  strained 
sidewise,  represented  so  faithfully  the  markings  on  some  of  the  rim 
potsherds  1  had  found,  that  I  could  no  longer  doubt  I  had  followed 
approximately  identical  methods  in  the  making  of  this  experimental 
pot  which  the  ancients  long  before  had  followed  in  the  making  of 
their  veritable  ones. 

After  this  1  lost  no  time  in  providing  myself  with  a  better  sand- 
form  enclosed  in  a  very  large  tub  (Fig.  1),  and  with  an  elevated  mar- 
gin or  bank  of  sand  around  it  {a,  a),  over  which  to  stretch  the  edges 
of  my  hoop-net  {b,  b),  and  peg  or  weight  them  down  when  in  use,  as 
shown  in  the  accompanying  sketch  {c,  d).     This  form  1  made  very 


222         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

large,  in  order  to  test  my  discovery  to  the  utmost,  by  shaping  in  it  a 
vessel  as  large  as  any  whose  remains  I  had  ever  found.  I  also  studied 
the  impressions  of  knots  and  meshes  on  the  ancient  sherds,  and  then 
proceeded  to  make  a  large  conical  net-bag  with  identical  (rather  small) 
meshes  and  knots,  fastening  a  stout  hoop  to  its  mouth  precisely  as 
dip-nets  are  formed  and  fashioned. 

I  observed  that  the  potsherds  I  had  collected  had  been  made  of 
ordinary  red  clay-paste  heavily  charged  with  a  tempering  material  of 
either  calcined  and  pulverized  stone  (usually  granite)  or  of  burnt  shells, 
or  of  both.  Familiar  with  the  fact  that  clay  requires  a  degraissant  or 
tempering  material  of  some  sort  to  keep  vessels  made  of  it  from  crack- 
ing, whilst  drying,  I  was  nevertheless  surprised  that  sand — the  usual 
and  in  these  cases  seemingly  unavoidable  admixture — had  been  used 
very  sparingly.  At  the  same  time  it  was  obvious  that,  if  my  theory 
in  reference  to  an  early  use  of  sand-pits,  plastered  with  clay  to  render 
them  water-tight  for  stone-boiling,  were  correct,  then  the  merely  acci- 
dental introduction  of  burnt  stone,  or  of  calcined  shells  occurring 
about  the  hearth  in  or  near  which  the  boiling-pits  had  been  made, 
would  sometimes  occur.  And,  in  case  a  pit  boiled  dry,  or  was  used  for 
baking,  as  no  doubt  it  often  might  be,  and  its  lining  happened  thus  to 
be  burned  to  hardness,  then,  sooner  or  later,  the  sufficiency  of  these 
pit-linings  themselves,  as  well  as  the  value  of  such  admixture  of  for- 
eign materials  in  preventing  their  excessive  shrinkage  and  cracking, 
would  become  apparent. 

Still,  the  preference  of  calcined  shell  or  stone  and  sand  as  temper- 
ing stuff  remained  to  be  accounted  for.  1  therefore  procured  some 
fragments  of  micaceous  and  feldspathic  granite,  and  a  quantity  of 
mussel-shells,  and  separately  calcined  them  until  nearly  friable,  then 
mixed  and  pulverized  them  on  a  flat  rock  with  a  cobble-stone,  pro- 
portioning the  burnt  stone  and  shell  (more  of  the  latter  than  of  the 
former)  as  they  appeared  to  have  been  proportioned  in  the  ancient 
potsherds,  and  mixing  them  thoroughly,  by  kneading,  with  moist  clay. 
With  this  mixture  I  built  up  inside  the  net  (introduced  into  the  sand 
form,  of  course,  and  held  in  place  by  four  or  five  pegs  inside  of  its 
wooden  rim)  a  very  large  pot.  The  clay-paste  thus  mixed  was  suf- 
ficiently adhesive,  yet  not  so  sticky  as  the  paste  made  simply  with  raw 
sand  and  clay,  but  even  the  thin  walls  formed  of  it  were  firmer.  It 
possessed  another  and  unexpected  quality:  it  hardened  so  rapidly  whilst 
being  built  up  that  1  had  to  work  fast  to  finish  the  pot  ere  even  the 
mass  of  it  in  the  lump  had  become  too  stiff  for  use  without  remoist- 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND    POTTERY.  223 

ening  and  remixing.  By  the  time  I  had  built  the  pot  up  eighteen  or 
twenty  inches  (the  pit  was  nearly  two  feet  deep,  conical,  and  about 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter  at  the  margin),  the  bottom  and  lower  sides 
had  already  set.  I  at  once,  therefore,  lifted  the  vessel  out  of  its  form, 
suspended  it  as  before,  and,  by  passing  cords  in  and  out  of  the  meshes 
like  a  drawing-string  around  and  just  below  the  rim  (a,  Fig.  3),  caused 
this,  which  still  remained  plastic,  to  contract  to  the  desired  size  of  the 
mouth  and  neck,  then  rapidly  finished  off  by  scraping  inside,  as  in  the 
first  instance.  The  whole  operation  had  been  so  easy,  and  had  required 
so  short  a  time,  that  1  determined,  whilst  waiting  for  the  big  vessel  to 
dry  (after  removing  the  net  and  re-introducing  it  into  the  pit)  to  try 
other  experiments.  1  therefore  mixed  some  more  paste,  this  time 
adding  only  calcined  and  crushed  shells  as  tempering  material,  again 
in  the  proportion  exhibited  by  ancient  specimens  of  the  more  delicate 
sort. 

This  paste  required  more  water  in  kneading,  out  was  nevertne- 
less,  while  more  plastic  at  first,  firmer  and  still  less  adhesive  than  the 
former  mixture.  But  it  also  hardened  much  more  rapidly— measur- 
ably as  does  hydraulic  cement, — and  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  build 
the  pot  up  in  the  pit  and  net  more  than  a  few  inches  before  my  ma- 
terial (in  the  lump)  became  too  hard  for  use,  because— as  1  soon 


Fiff.  2. 

learned— of  an  excess  of  calcined  shell.  This  was  a  fortunate  acci- 
dent, however,  for  I  found  that,  by  lifting  the  unfinished  bowl-shaped 
vessel  out,  I  had  only  to  hang  the  net  up,  lace  it  in  at  or  above  the  un- 


224         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

completed  rim  as  before  (see  lowest  section,  a,  Fig.  2),  and  behold,  a 
miniature  pot,  in  shape  quite  like  the  last  made  vessel,  was  produced, 
merely  by  a  little  tlnishing-oflf.  It  became  obvious  that,  as  the 
accompanying  diagrams  (Figs.  2  and  3)  illustrate,  vessels  of  any  size, 
from  the  capacity  of  a  pint  to  that  of  many  gallons,  could  be 
formed  in  the  same  pit,  and  also  by  use  of  the  same  net.  Thus, 
conical  vessels  could  be  made  by  tying  the  net  in  above  the  rim 
(as  at  a,  a,  a,  Fig.  2),  or  could  be  made  pot-shaped  by  tying  or  gath- 
ering it  in  below  the  rim  {b,  b,  b,  Fig.  3). 


Fig.  3. 

I  tried  yet  another  expenment,  that  of  forming  a  third  vessel  of 
clay  mixed  only  with  the  calcined  stone.  To  some  extent  this  paste 
partook  of  the  nature  of  the  shell-mixed  paste,  but  it  set  a  little  less 
rapidly.  Singularly  enough,  however,  it  was  not  so  tough  whilst 
moist,  yet  harder,  and  not  therefore  so  deeply  impressed  by  the  sup- 
porting net  cords,  or  so  easily  reshaped  when  setting  after  having 
been  taken  out,  being  less  plastic;  but,  the  material  being  "  shorter  " 
so  to  say,  it  was  much  more  readily  finished  by  scraping. 

f  he  relative  value  of  these  three  admixtures  to  clay-paste,  namely, 
burnt  shell  and  stone,  calcined  shell  alone,  and  burnt  stone  alone,  re- 
mained to  be  tested  by  firing.  I  constructed  a  very  simple  kiln  of 
stone  and  mud,  fragments  of  fire  brick,  etc.  (being  desirous  of  burn- 
ing all  three  vessels  equally,  hence  together,  and  therefore  abandoning 
for  the  time  being  the  burning  of  them  in  separate  sand-pits),  and 
subjected  them  therein  to  a  red  heat  for  some  three  or  four  hours. 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY.  225 

The  vessel  first  formed  (of  paste  mixed  with  calcined  stone  and  shell 
combined)  was  better  in  some  respects  than  either  of  the  others  The 
shell  material  had  acted  on  certain  components  of  the  granite  to  very 
partially  flux  them,  and  the  resulting  ware  was  good,  ringing,  brick- 
like earthenware,  like  by  far  the  greater  number  of  ancient  specimens. 
The  second  specimen  (of  shell  and  clay  only)  was  not  so  strong, 
although  beautifully  burned.  It  had  slightly  scaled  in  one  or  two 
places,  was  somewhat  softer — easily  scratched  with  a  flint  knife— and 
tended  to  disintegrate  in  spots  when  in  contact  for  any  length  of  time 
with  water,  again  the  result  of  too  great  an  admixture  of  shell;  for  the 
latter,  converted  to  lime  by  the  firing,  tended  to  slake  and  expand 
when  too  much  wetted. 

By  far  the  most  useful,  though  not  the  strongest  ware,  was  that 
made  of  the  clay  mixed  with  calcined  stone  only.  It  was  neither 
much  afliected  by  the  heat,  nor  by  water,  and  would  have  served  ad- 
mirably as  an  every-day  cooking-pot  had  it  been  less  fragile. 

To  overcome  the  latter  defect,  1  therefore,  in  a  subsequent  experi- 
ment, introduced  calcined  shell  in  greatly  diminished  proportion,  in- 
creasing by  as  much  the  amount  of  calcined  and  crushed  granite;  with 
the  result  of  producing  a  ware  which  was  at  once  very  strong,  like  the 
first,  and,  like  the  last,  sutficiently  fire-  and  water-proof  to  serve  all 
ordinary  primitive  culinary  requirements.  1  found  that  in  the  absence 
of  shell  a  paste  consisting  of  much  more  calcined  stone  than  of  clay 
would  set  so  rapidly  that  it  could  be  built  up,  strip  by  strip  or 
lump  by  lump,  without  much  support.  This  made  a  ware  so  coarse 
and  friable,  before  burning,  that  it  had  to  be  reinforced  by  a  thin 
slip- wash  or  external  coating  of  fine  or  "  fat  "  clay-paste  and  sand  and 
by  weld-scraping  or  patting  with  a  spatula  of  shell  or  other  material. 
The  surface  of  such  a  vessel  took  a  very  smooth  finish,  was  easily  in- 
dented by  the  finger-nail,  or  with  stick  and  bone  tools,  and  when 
properly  decorated  by  these  means,  and  burned  a  long  time,  exactly 
resembled  that  of  the  inland  pottery.  This  resemblance  extended  as 
well  to  its  composition  after  burning.  A  fragment  seen  in  section 
consisted  apparently  of  three  layers:  an  outer,  moderately  thin  coating, 
a  medial,  dark,  stony,  rather  thick  portion,  and  an  inner,  smooth, 
very  thin  and  black  lamina,  or,  rather,  surface.  This  latter  had  been 
produced  by  the  inside  scraping  or  "welding,"  the  "washing"  and 
the  smoothing  processes.  That  is,  the  inner  surface,  having  been 
rendered  even  and  thoroughly  blended  where  paste  had  been  added  to 
paste,  by  scraping  and  patting  with  the  edge  and  flat  portion  of  a 


226        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

shell,  then  smoothed  by  moistening  and  rubbing  with  the  rounded 
portion  of  the  shell,  all  fragments  of  the  stone  or  grit  had  been  forced 
toward  the  center  into  the  mass  or  medial  portion  and  an  excellent 
surface  left  for  "  smudging  "  by  the  smoke  which  accumulated  inside 
of  the  vessel  whilst  being  burnt  in  an  open  rotten-wood  fire.  The 
outer  surface  coating  formed  a  distinct  layer  firmly  adhering  to 
the  gritty  middle  portion,  but  presenting  a  red  or  lighter  contrasting 
color,  and,  of  course,  a  finer  texture.  In  all  of  these  respects  the 
ware  of  my  experiments  last  recorded  as  closely  resembled,  when 
broken,  the  sherds  of  pottery  from  the  inland  camp  sites  as  fragments 
of  the  earlier  experimental  products  did  that  of  the  shore-land  mid- 
dings. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  analyze  in  the  present  paper  the  processes 
of  pottery  manufacture  as  practiced  by  the  tribes  of  New  York  under 
the  influence  of  their  inland,  forest  environment.  I  have  studied  them 
out  to  the  minutest  details  by  like  experimental  means,  using,  in  place 
of  sand-pit  forms,  stitched  or  separate  bark  piece-moulds,  and  basketry, 
matting  and  pieces  of  other  textile  in  place  of  the  dip-nets.  I  have 
mentioned  a  few  of  these  processes  here,  chiefly  to  exemplify  and  em- 
phasize the  importance  and  function  of  the  degraissant  or  tempering 
material  and  its  varying  kinds,  as  seen  in  various  qualities  of  this 
ware.  It  became  evident  to  me  that  superiority  of  strength  and  im- 
munity from  cracking,  however  important,  were  but  secondary,  or,  I 
may  say,  incidental  objects  to  the  primitive  artisan  in  the  adding  of 
coarse  tempering  ingredients  to  his  terra  cotta  material.  His  first  or 
most  conscious  object  was  to  make  a  paste  which  would  be  short,  not 
too  sticky,  and  would  set  rapidly  and  thus  retain  its  shape  whilst  being 
moulded,  principally  (in  case  of  inland  tribes)  by  hand.  He  had  dis- 
covered in  ways  I  have  above  indicated  and  in  other  easily  conceivable 
ways  that  burnt  stone,  burnt  shell,  burnt  sand  even,  mixed  with  clay, 
was  superior  to  unburnt  material  for  giving  it,  to  some  extent,  the 
quality  of  a  true  hydraulic  cement,  which  could  nevertheless  be  slowly 
built  up  if  sufficiently  worked  and  welded  during  the  operation,  and, 
when  left  alone  for  a  few  moments,  had  the  remarkable  property  of 
hardening  or  setting,  although  still  moist,  sufficiently  to  keep  its 
shape.  Therefore,  much  of  the  lacustrine  net-impressed  pottery, 
formed,  as  it  apparently  was,  in  sand-pits,  and  held  in  shape  by  them, 
as  well  as,  whilst  being  dried  and  finished  by  suspension  in  a  dip-net, 
as  often  as  not  contains  but  a  comparatively  limited  amount  of  tem- 
pering material,  and  that  chiefly  of  burnt  shell.     Much  of  the  inland 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY.         227 

pottery,  however,  which  was  moulded  up  by  hand  or  with  but  the  slight- 
est supports  of  plaited,  splint,  or  wattled  basketry,  bark,  or  wooden 
forms,  contains  an  excessive  amount  of  burnt,  coarsely  crushed  rock, 
into  which  is  sometimes  introduced  a  little  calcined  and  powdered  shell 
or  even  bone,  by  which  admixtures  the  paste  of  which  it  was  made  was 
converted  into  a  cement  easily  manageable  and,  when  fully  shaped, 
susceptible  of  leisurely  and  elaborate  finishing,  even  after  drying. 

I  may  add  that  with  primitive  peoples  who  use  rotating  base- 
moulds  (.like  those  of  the  Zuni,  which,  being  convex-bottomed,  readily 
turn,  and  form  true  archetypes  of  the  potter's  wheel),  by  being  able  to 
build  or  coil  up  very  green  or  plastic  paste  and  model  it  freely  even  be- 
fore setting,  finer  (in  fact,  very  fine)  tempering  material  may  be  and 
is  used,  such  as  sifted  sand  or  ground  stone,  more  with  our  own  idea 
of  merely  communicating  strength  to  their  fictiles  than  of  facilitating 
the  moulding  of  them.  But  even  amongst  such  peoples  calcined  ma- 
terial is  resorted  to  whenever  a  work  of  peculiar  intricacy  and  ditfi- 
culty  is  undertaken  in  which  much  hand  modeling  is  needful.  In 
such  case,  burnt  stone  or  powdered  and  sometimes  recalcined  pot- 
sherds are  used  as  the  tempering-stuff. 

But  in  the  case  of  ruder  peoples  of  the  interior,  like  the  Iroquois 
or  their  predecessors,  the  process  of  pottery-making  was  more  dit^l- 
cult  and  tedious,  as  has  been  partially  and  might  be  far  more  fully 
shown.  For  this  reason  and  because  of  the  greater  availability  of  the 
stone-clay  ware  for  general,  and  particularly  for  cooking  uses,  it  was 
both  more  highly  prized  and  more  finely  finished  than  the  shore-land 
pottery  of  the  same  peoples.  It  was,  however,  very  heavy  and  quite 
easily  broken,  hence  not  readily  transported. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  sandpit-formed  and  net-  or  textile-sup- 
ported pottery,  while  limited  in  variety  of  form,  not  so  easily  finished 
or  highly  decorated,  and  not  quite  so  serviceable,  was  still  very  well 
suited  to  temporary  use.  It  was  so  readily  and  rapidly  made,  more- 
over, that  the  pottery  of  the  home  camps  (especially  that  used  in 
cookery)  only  very  rarely  needed  to  be  transported  to  the  fishing- 
grounds  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  and  great  rivers.  In  illustration  of 
this  1  may  state  that,  although  a  novice,  1  was  able,  by  using  the 
sand-pit  mould  and  dip-net  support  as  described,  to  turn  out  in  a 
single  day  (the  third  after  beginning  these  experiments)  vessels  large 
and  small  to  the  number  of  half  a  dozen  or  more,  which  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  would  have  been,  had  haste  required  it,  quite  ready  for 
firing. 


228         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Although  some  of  the  explorations  which  led  to  these  experiments 
were  carried  on  when  1  was  a  boy,  and  although  the  experi- 
ments themselves  were  begun  more  than  two  years  ago,  I  have 
lacked,  until  quite  lately,  the  conclusive  evidence  of  such  primitive 
sand-pit  cooking  as  1  had  assumed  naturally  prevailed  at  first  among 
peoples  living  along  the  shores  of  considerable  bodies  of  water,  and 
maintaining  themselves,  partly  at  least,  by  fishing;  hence  using  dip- 
nets,  etc.  During  my  stay  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  however, 
happily  I  was  invited  by  Mr.  D.  H.  Burnham,  Chief  of  Works,  to  visit 
for  a  day  or  two  his  pleasant  home  in  Evanston,  close  to  the  south 
and  western  shores  of  Lake  Michigan.  During  this  visit  I  explored 
high,  sandy  blutTs  lying  northward  of  the  Northwestern  University 
Reserve,  and  there  discovered  in  one  place  some  exceedingly  ancient 
middings.  In  these  no  pottery  occurred,  yet  traces  of  sand-pits  such 
as  I  have  described,  but  ruder  and  shallower,  were  found,  and  around 
them  plentiful  boiling-stones  (reddened  and  crackled  by  alternate 
heating  and  immersion  in  water)  were  also  found,  indicating  that 
probably  these  pits  had  actually  been  used  as  boiling-holes  or  pots,  so 
to  call  them.  I  therefore  now  feel  measurably  certain,  not  only  that 
forms  in  sand  could  easily  be  used,  and  would  naturally  come  to  be 
used  in  moulding  and  burning  pottery  by  rude  fisher  or  shore-land 
folk,  but  also  that  the  practice  of  cooking  in  clay-lined  sand-pits  by 
means  of  heated  stones  would  as  easily  lead  to  this  use  of  such  forms 
and  might  explain  much  in  reference  to  the  employment  of  burnt 
shell,  burnt  stone,  etc.,  in  pottery-making  throughout  widely  sepa- 
rated regions  of  the  earth.  It  would  explain  equally  well  the  still 
wider  prevalence  of  textile  impressions  on  pottery  like  that  of  our 
eastern  and  southern  camp-sites,  either  as  indicating  the  use  of  cord- 
age, netting  or  cloth-forms,  at  first,  for  supporting  the  clay  whilst 
being  fashioned  into  vessels,  or  else  as  the  survival  of  such  usage  in 
manipulatory  processes  suggested  by  it,  and  in  decorations  suggested 
in  turn  by  or  practically  growing  out  of  experiences  involved  in  such 
processes. 

Numerous  examples  of  pottery  from  here  and  there  the  world 
over,  made  apparently  in  pits  and  with  nets  or  bags,  that  is,  so  com- 
pletely resembling  the  products  of  my  experiments  as  to  serve  admir- 
ably for  illustrating  them,  the  processes  by  which  I  produced  them  and 
the  observations  suggested  thereby  as  above  recorded,  might  be  given 
in  detail.  Still  more  numerous  examples  of  pottery  showing  impor- 
tant variations  in  decoration  and  form  almost  unmistakably  derivative 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY.         229 

from  such  beginnings  and  processes  might  also  be  referred  to.  But 
my  purpose  is,  for  the  time  being,  to  simply  suggest  and  in  a  merely 
general  way  to  evidence  the  probable  intluences  which  led  to  the  first 
origins  of  the  primal  types,  the  first  use  in  them  of  burnt  shell  and 
crushed  stone  tempering  material,  and  the  first  beginnings  in  them  of 
the  widespread  practice  of  working,  finishing  or  stamping  the  surfaces 
of  vessels,  highly  ditTerentiated  from  such  primeval  sand-pit  types  in 
almost  every  other  way,  with  cordage,  netting  and  textiles,  or  textile 

patterns. 

The  extremely  easy  steps  by  which  a  fisher-folk  using  dip-nets, 
and  continuing  to  cook  their  fish,  etc.,  with  hot  stones  in  clay-lined 
sand-pits,  would  discover  at  once  the  useful  terra  cotta  quality  of  clay 
when  burnt,  and  all  the  processes  by  which  it  could  be  manipulated  to 
render  it  thus  useful,  would  lead,  1  think  we  may  safely  conclude,  to 
the  making  of  such  pottery  in  quite  identical  ways,  yet  independently, 
by  widely  separated  peoples.     The  practice  of  storing  water  in  clay- 
lined  hollows  is,  as  has  been  shown,  suggested  by  nature.    The  prac- 
tice of  cooking  fish,  at  any  rate,  (and  other  food,  such  as  was  gen- 
erally eaten  without  broth  or  its  liquor),  in  such  hollows,  would  be  a 
very  simple  additional  step  to  a  people  used  to  cookery  with  hot  stones 
as  so  many  of  the  most  primitive  tribes  of  men  have  been.    Thus  the 
discovery,  sooner  or  later,  that  the  clay  lining  repeatedly  used  and  re- 
paired with  gritty  plasterings  was  better  than  a  new  one,  and  that 
when  burned  it  might  be  used  without  hot  stones  by  the  removal  of 
some  of  the  sand  from  around  or  from  underneath  it  and  the  direct 
application  of  fire,  and  finally  that  it  might  be  removed  and  thus  used 
even  apart  from  its  original  sand-bed,  would  as  naturally  follow;  and 
with  the  use  of  the  dip-net  in  fishing  would  come,  sooner  or  later,  also 
the  suggestion  that  the  clay  lining  might  be  made  thinner  and  held  up 
in  forming,  and  lifted  out  for  drying  by  the  net  (from  the  pit  it  was 
formed  or  bedded  in),  just  as  this  suggestion  came  to  me  through 
stuiy  and  experiment  with  similar  appliances  and  materials  and  under 
similar  conditions.     The  best  indication  that  this  is  practically  the  his- 
tory of  repeated  discoveries  of  the  potter's  art  by  widely  severed  peo- 
ples and  at  very  various  times,  lies  not  alone  in  the  universality  of  net- 
and  cord-impressed  ware  alongside  of  or  within  the  regions  contiguous 
to  nearly  all  great  bodies  of  water  the  world  over,  and  the  still  wider 
distribution  of  pottery  with  a  shell  tempering  material,  but  also  in  the 
fact  that  the  ruder  and  presumably  earlier  types  of  such  net-impressed 
pottery  are  almost  always  conical,  high,  comparatively  wide  at  the 


230        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

mouth,  and  but  slightly  constricted  at  the  neck,  as  though  built  up  in- 
side of  a  mould  of  increasing  diameter,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  more  readily  lifted.  It  may  be  well  to  add  that  a  vessel  of 
this  form  is  better  adapted  practically  (as  well  as  by  survival  of  asso- 
ciation) for  cooking  in  sandy  places.  Like  the  boiling-pots  of  the 
Navajo  on  the  sandy  plateaus  of  the  Southwest,  it  could  be  readily  set 
up  for  cooking  by  thrusting  its  tapering  base  into  the  loose,  heavy 
sand  and  building  a  fire  around  it. 

When,  however,  cooking  with  pottery  began  to  prevail  in  the 
forests  of  the  inland,  where  surface  and  other  conditions  were  quite 
different,  the  vessel  had  to  be  made  differently  to  meet  different  require- 
ments and  to  facilitate  suspension  or  propping  up.  It  had  to  be  made 
narrower  at  the  neck  than  a  vessel  simply  formed  in  a  net  could  be 
made,  and  its  rim  or  upper  portion  at  least  had  to  be  very  wide  or 
flaring,  therefore  necessarily  formed  in  other  ways,  the  use  of  a  heav- 
ier and  more  abundant  tempering  material,  for  instance,  being  em- 
ployed to  facilitate  manipulation.  It  needs  must  have  not  only  a  greatly 
expanded  rim  or  border  to  facilitate  suspension,  but  also  wider  shoul- 
ders below  the  neck  to  protect  from  burning  the  sapling  hoop,  bark  or 
fiber  binding,  forked  wooden  props  or  other  device  by  which  it  was 
suspended  over  or  held  up  on  a  fire — in  this  case  probably  built  under- 
neath rather  than  around  it. 

Thus,  and  through  the  influence  of  bark  and  wooden  vessels  so 
common  to  the  forest  life  and  so  likely  to  be  used  as  models  ( if  not 
wholly  or  in  part  used  at  first  for  supporting  the  clay  of  which  vessels 
like  them  were  being  formed),  a  great  number,  at  least,  of  the  variations 
in  the  types  of  inland  pottery  from  the  types  of  shore-land  pottery  may 
be  accounted  for,  even  when  the  inland  pottery  was  evidently  made 
by  the  same  people,  who  continued  more  or  less  to  make  the  old  kind 
of  shore-land  pottery,  as  apparently  the  New  York  tribes  did. 

It  may  be  inferred  that  peoples  of  the  farther  interiors,  who  con- 
tinued the  use  of  burnt  shell  tempering  itself — though  they  varied  their 
methods  of  working  clay,  as  did  the  mound-builders — or  who  used 
other  tempering  material,  yet  continued  to  give  a  textile-marked  finish 
to  the  surface  of  their  wares,  as  did  many  southeastern  tribes,  that 
such  a  people  had  some  time  been  shore-land  dwellers,  or  else  had 
directly  inherited  or  derived  their  art  in  clay  from  shore-land  dwellers. 

This  becomes  the  more  apparent  if  we  consider  that  a  people  who, 
like  the  Zuni  and  other  Pueblos,  developed  (or  perhaps  re-developed) 
their  art  of  pottery  through  the  use  of  gourds  and  water-tight  basketry. 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY.         23l 

etc.,  as  1  have  shown  in  my  paper  on  this  subject  in  the  Fourth  An- 
nual Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  never  introduce  a 
shell  tempering  into  their  ware,  not  having,  of  course,  in  their  arid, 
almost  waterless  land,  passed  through  a  fisher  period  of  development 
at  such  time  as  to  affect  their  development  of  the  art  itself. 

it  is  not  unlikely  that  during  the  earliest  time  of  the  human  occu- 
pancy of  this  continent  tribes  of  men  were  scattered  only  along  the 
sea-shores,  where  the  presence  of  shellfish  as  well  as  of  free  swimming 
fish  and  Crustacea  assured  the  comparatively  easy  acquisition  of  a  con- 
stant food  supply.  It  is  quite  as  likely,  we  may  suppose,  that  when 
tribes,  grown  numerous  and  therefore  contentious  over  these  natural 
vantage-grounds,  drove  some  of  their  numbers  to  penetrate  the  inte- 
rior, these  followed  the  great  water-ways,  loth  to  part  with  the  mother- 
like element  which  had  so  long  maintained  them  and  had  fostered 
their  increase  until  some  needs  must  move  away.  To  those  who  per- 
force first  braved  the  wilderness,  the  lakes  became  new  homes,  where 
in  part  their  old  fisher  life  could  be  continued,  and  where  new  con- 
ditions could  be  gradually  met  and  mastered. 

Those  who  in  turn,  grown  hunters  rather  than  fishermen,  ascended 
the  rivers  and  streams  which  led  down  to  these  lakes,  peopling  wood- 
lands and  valleys,  still,  as  a  rule,  returned  each  season  to  draw  new 
life,  as  it  were,  from  the  waters.  In  eastern  and  southern  regions,  at 
least,  they  did  not  wander  ceaselessly.  The  forest,  with  her  teeming 
winged  and  four-footed  denizens,  became  their  new  mother,  inviting 
them  to  stay  in  every  favorable  valley,  not  to  constantly  shift  their 
places  of  abode.  And  so  into  the  forest  they  could  well  carry  their 
potter's  art  born  of  their  earlier  fisher  life,  not  finding  it  less  useful, 
but  more  so  than  on  the  shores,  and  slowly  modifying  it  to  meet  new 
conditions,  yet  retaining  to  the  last  certain  survivals  of  the  art  as  orig- 
inally developed. 

Such,  for  example,  would  seem  to  have  been  the  case  with  the 
ancestral  Iroquoian  tribes.  In  their  ancient  forest  strongholds  the  sherds 
of  their  flctiles  are  almost  as  varied  in  form  and  decoration  as  tiiey  are 
numerous,  differing  essentially,  yet  along  distinctive  lines,  as  1  have 
already  stated,  from  either  their  own  shore  pottery  or  the  pottery  of 
other  peoples  on  coasts  or  lake  shore.  It  would  seem  from  this  that 
they  must  have  been  for  many  generations  a  forest  people  more  than 
a  shore-land  people,  the  comparatively  shallow,  narrow- necked,  wide- 
rimmed  and  broad-shouldered  style  of  their  cooking-pots,  as  well  as 
the  extraordinary  fashion  they  had  of  making  tlie  majority  of  the  rims 


232         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

or  borders  of  these  pots  more  or  less  angular  (that  is,  three,  four  or 
five-sided)  and  of  decorating  them  with  stitch-like  nickings  and  quill- 
like line-drawn  markings,  showing  the  influence  of  folded  and 
stitched  bark  vessels  quite  as  much  as  the  necessity  for  suspension 
over  the  fire  in  forestry  use.  In  a  line  with  this  is  the  fact  that  as  a 
rule  (with  exceptions,  of  course)  the  pottery  of  the  northeastern 
Algonquian  tribes  at  least  is,  if  1  may  judge  from  examples  I  have  seen 
in  New  England  (and  even  from  Virginia),  relatively  deeper,  more 
conical,  relatively  narrower  at  the  shoulders  than  at  the  rim,  more  deco- 
rated with  cord-,  net-  or  textile-impressed  or  stamped  markings  than 
with  straight-lined  incisions,  and,  above  all,  is  more  generally  charac- 
terized by  a  shell  tempering  than  is  the  inland  pottery  of  the  Iroquoian 
tribes.  And  this  would  seem  to  indicate  that  as  a  rule,  while  the  pristine 
Iroquoian  was  a  forest-dweller,  the  Algonquian  continued  longer  to  be 
a  man  of  tide-water  regions — not  a  forest-dweller  to  a  sufficiently  ex- 
clusive extent  or  for  long  enough  periods  after  penetrating  inland 
to  work  such  marked  changes  in  his  pottery  art  as  were  wrought 
in  that  of  his  more  exclusively  forest-dwelling  neighbors.  In  the  case 
of  his  relatives  in  the  far  West,  he  seems  rather  to  have  forgotten  his 
potter's  art  as  he  penetrated  the  desolate  reaches  of  the  northern 
regions,  in  his  slow  shifting  thitherward,  until,  coming  out  on  the 
borders  of  the  great  plains,  we  find  him  returning  to  his  stone-boiling, 
using  (as  did  the  Blackfoot  Algonquians)  green  skins  instead  of  clay 
wherewith  to  line  buffalo  wallows  or  artificial  holes  for  this  purpose. 

So  the  tribes  who,  pressing  on,  passed  the  forests  and  entered  the 
great  plains;  the  peoples  driven  down  from  the  high  north  into  the 
land  of  the  bison;  the  punier  tribes  of  the  Pacific  shore  seeking  refuge 
in  the  mountains  and  in  the  great  arid  wastes  they  enclosed — we  may 
judge  that  at  first  all  of  these  speedily  cast  away  their  pottery  as  too 
fragile  and  cumbersome  for  transport  in  their  life  of  ceaseless  wander- 
ing. And  we  may  also  well  suppose  that  by  many  of  them  the  pot- 
ter's art  thus  disused  was  wholly  forgot,  stone-boiling  in  skins,  as  with 
the  Blackfeet  and  other  plains  tribes,  or  in  comparatively  light  water- 
tight baskets,  as  with  the  Utes  and  Walapais,  replacing  it  for  so  long 
as  the  wandering  life  was  maintained,  then  giving  rise  to  a  new  gen- 
esis of  the  potter's  art — like  that  of  the  Pueblos  and  Pimas,  when 
through  stress  of  circumstance  and  the  necessitous  adoption  of  horti- 
culture their  ancestral  tribes  came  to  rest  once  more. 

One  may  reasonably  ask  why,  if  the  discovery  of  pottery-mak- 
ing by  coast  or  shore-land  peoples  was  so  simple  as  to  have  been  al- 


THE  GERM  OF  SHORE-LAND  POTTERY.  233 

most  inevitable — as  has  been  assumed  in  the  preceding  paragraphs — 
why  all  coast  or  shore-land  peoples  did  not  practice  that  art.  It  may 
be  answered  that  well-nigh  all  such  peoples,  to  judge  by  the  anciant 
remains  gathered  from  the  sea  shores,  lake  shores  or  the  shores  of 
great  rivers  in  all  lands,  have  practiced  that  art.  Whenever  we  find 
an  exception  to  this  widely  prevailing  rule,  we  may  usually  find  an 
immediate  cause  therefor.  For  example,  numerous  tribes  of  the 
Northwest  Coast,  considerably  advanced  in  other  arts,  had  made  no 
progress  in  pottery-making  when  first  found  by  voyagers.  The  rea- 
son for  this  was  simple.  They  lived  in  a  country  which  furnished 
easily  worked  material,  like  the  redwood  and  spruce  of  their  region, 
the  soft  black  slate  and  fire-proof,  easily-carved  marls  so  abundant 
there.  Nor  is  it  wholly  certain  that  these  tribes,  as  found  in  historic 
times,  had  been  coast-dwellers  uninterruptedly  from  the  earliest  times, 
for  their  art  in  basketry  and  horn,  etc.,  seems  to  indicate  that  they 
had  one  time  or  another  been  influenced  by  quite  ditTerent  environ- 
ments, and  that,  when  finally  settling  on  the  coast,  they  were  already 
supplied  with  portable  vessels  for  their  stone-boiling,  obviating  the 
necessity  for  using  the  crude  boiling-pit  of  Nature's  ready  suggesting. 
Yet  even  here  there  was  a  time  when  their  own  ancestors  or  their  re- 
mote predecessors  on  the  caast,  as  the  case  may  be,  did  know  the  pot- 
ter's art  in  one  of  its  crudest  states,  as  shown  now  and  then  by  re- 
mains found  as  far  north  as  Alaska. 

Again,  the  islanders  and  some  of  the  coast  tribes  of  Southern 
and  Lower  California  did  not,  when  first  found,  make  vessels  of  clay. 
But  again  these  peoples  were  living  in  a  region  where  exhaustless 
supplies  of  superior  steatite  occurred,  and  this,  even  had  they  earlier 
discovered  the  possibilities  of  clay,  they  preferred,  no  doubt,  as  being 
more  durable,  for  the  material  of  their  cooking-pots.  Nevertheless 
their  predecessors,  too,  had  also  been  makers  of  pottery;  and  the  sherds 
I  have  gathered  from  the  oldest  middings  there  are  absolutely  identi- 
cal except  in  quality  of  clay  with  those  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  great  lake 
shores. 

It  may  be  quite  possible,  then,  in  view  of  all  this,  that  the  pot- 
ter's art,  instead  of  belonging  to  a  late  period  in  man's  development 
— at  least  here  in  America — belonged  to  one  of  the  earliest  periods  of 
his  occupancy  of  the  sea-shore  and  lake  lands.  That  in  some  regions 
like  those  of  the  East,  where  the  forests  were  dense  and  the  lakes 
numerous,  inviting  to  comparative  permanency  of  abode,  this  art  may 
have  been  handed  down  as  an  unbroken  heritage  even  in  the  interior. 


234        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

But  that  in  other  regions  the  art  may  have  been  disused  and  forgotten, 
rediscovered  and  forgotten  again,  or  with  changing  conditions  redis- 
covered in  other  ways,  alTecting  total  changes  in  its  product  of  types 
as  well  as  in  the  degree  of  perfection  to  which  it  was  carried,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  basket-pottery  makers  of  the  great  Southwest. 

In  conclusion  1  may  say  that  the  statement  ventured  by  me  some 
years  ago  on  the  strength  of  quite  other  evidences  may  now,  with 
added  force,  be  repeated;  namely,  that  the  use  of  pottery  was  in  all 
probability  discovered  independently  in  numerous  diverse  localities, 
more  often,  indeed,  developed  independently  by  severed  tribes,  than  as 
a  borrowed  art;  the  very  identity,  almost  universally,  of  at  least  shore- 
land  varieties  of  earthenware,  so  suggestive  at  first  of  a  common 
source  for  it  all,  proving  rather  the  reverse;  that  is,  that  its  possession 
of  so  many  characteristics  in  common  resulted  from  the  action  of  a 
uniform  and  somewhat  universally  prevailing  law,  born  of  the  condi- 
tions of  shore-land  environment  and  developed  therefrom  in  one  way 
and  another. 

As  1  have  stated  once  before  in  the  course  of  these  pages,  many 
distinctive  inland  types  of  pottery  have  been  experimentally  studied 
by  me,  many  and  in  some  cases  all  details  of  process  by  which  they 
were  made  having  thus  been  exhaustively  worked  out,  and  many  of 
the  causes  originating  these  distinctive  types  having  been  thereby  also 
apprehended.  In  a  far  more  thorough  manner  the  evolution  of  art 
involved  in  the  development  of  these  types,  and,  indeed,  distinguishing 
them  fully  as  much  as  evidences  of  varied  manipulation,  have  been  ex- 
haustively and  admirably  worked  out  and  set  forth  by  my  friend  and 
confrere.  Prof.  William  H.  Holmes,  in  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Eth- 
nology. It  therefore  remains  only  for  me  to  state  that  utilitarian  pro- 
cesses growing  out  of  suggestive  experiences  in  the  course  of  the  earlier 
developments  1  have  traced,  survivals  of  other  kinds,  the  mythic  and 
animistic  conception  of  vessels  and  their  functions  common  to  prim- 
itive people,  and  a  variety  of  other  influences  have  affected  the 
development  of  their  varieties  of  fictile  products  fully  as  much  as 
original  conditions  of  production;  but  one  of  the  surest  ways  of 
understanding  even  these  more  subtle  influences  is  through  experi- 
ments with  original  materials  with  one's  own  hands,  limited  in  ac- 
tion to  the  appliances  of  the  original  local  stone  age  conditions  in 
each  given  case,  and  in  almost  blind  submission  to  their  influences 
and  promptings. 


FOLK-LORE. 


235 


FOLK-LORE. 

RITUAL  REGARDED  AS  THE  DRAMATIZATION  OF  MYTH. 
BY   WILLIAM  WELLS  NEWELL, 

THERE  seem  to  be  good  reasons  why,  in  the  study  of  any  parti- 
cular religion,  its  ritual  should  be  first  considered.  An  act  is  in 
itself  a  more  definite  thing  than  a  tale.  In  the  worship  the  cel- 
ebrant represents,  not  only  his  contemporaries,  but  also  probably  his 
predecessors;  in  the  narrative  he  may  represent  only  himself.  The 
rite  is  often  performed  merely  as  a  custom,  its  original  motives  being 
no  longer  remembered;  while  the  reasons  assigned  for  the  performance 
in  such  cases  are  generally  not  those  which  brought  the  ceremony  into 
existence.  Many  myths  are  invented  simply  as  explanations  of  the 
ritual  acts;  to  use  the  technical  expression,  they  are  etiological. 

A  consideration  of  these  conditions  has  of  late  led  some  writers 
to  minimize  the  value  of  mythology,  considered  as  a  key  to  the  signi- 
ficance of  the  religion  with  which  it  is  connected.  Thus  in  his  excel- 
lent work  on  "The  Religion  of  the  Semites"  (Edinburgh,  1889)  W. 
Robertson  Smith  observes: 

"  In  all  the  antique  religions,  mythology  takes  the  place  of  dogma,  that  is, 
the  sacred  lore  of  priests  and  people,  so  far  as  it  does  not  consist  of  mere  rules 
for  the  performance  of  religious  acts,  assumes  the  form  of  stories  about  the 
gods;  and  these  stories  afford  the  only  explanation  that  is  offered  of  the  pre- 
cepts of  religion  and  the  prescribed  rules  of  ritual.  But,  strictly  speaking,  this 
mythology  was  no  essential  part  of  ancient  religion,  for  it  had  no  sacred  sanc- 
tion and  no  binding  force  on  the  worshipers  ....  This  being  so,  it  follows 
that  mythology  ought  not  to  take  the  prominent  place  that  is  often  assigned  to 
it  in  the  scientific  study  of  ancient  faiths.  So  far  as  myths  consist  of  explana- 
tions of  ritual,  their  value  is  altogether  secondary,  and  it  may  be  affirmed  with 
confidence  that  in  almost  every  case  the  myth  was  derived  from  the  ritual,  and 
not  the  ritual  from  the  myth;  for  the  ritual  was  fixed  and  the  myth  was  variable, 
the  ritual  was  obligatory  and  faith  in  the  myth  was  at  the  discretion  of  the  wor- 
shiper ....  The  conclusion  is  that  in  the  study  of  ancient  religions  we  must 
begin,  not  with  myth,  but  with  ritual  and  traditional  usage."  * 

While  entirely  admitting  the  correctness  of  the  principle  that  it 
is  with  the  worship  that  the  study  of  religions  must  begin,  it  appears 


*  Lectures  on  the  Religion  of  the  Semites,  First  Series,  Edinburgh,  1889,  pp.  19,  20. 

237 


238        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

to  me  that  the  propositions  cited  contain  only  part  of  the  truth,  and, 
indeed,  exhibit  fundamental  errors,  calculated  to  interfere  with  the 
proper  comprehension  of  the  theory  of  religions.  I  desire  to  indicate 
considerations  which  incline  me  to  regard  myth  and  ritual  as  two  cor- 
related elements  of  worship,  equally  ancient  and  equally  important. 
A  religion  is  understood  only  when  we  become  acquainted  both  with 
the  rites  and  with  the  mythic  interpretation;  in  my  judgment,  disre- 
gard of  the  latter  is  as  fatal  as  neglect  of  the  former. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  these  two  constituents 
of  ethnic  religion  cannot  be  so  easily  separated  as  the  author  cited  ap- 
pears to  assume,  and  that  for  a  very  simple  reason:  namely,  that  the 
myth  is  an  essential  part  of  the  ritual. 

It  may  be  affirmed  with  probability  that  in  all  gentile  or  social 
ceremonies  the  myth  enters  into  the  celebration,  and  that  in  one  or 
other  of  several  distinct  ways. 

First,  as  part  of  the  ceremonial,  the  legend  may  be  recited  in  its 
full  prose  form,  or  chanted  as  an  epos.  I  have  the  authority  of  Dr. 
J.  Walter  Fewkes  for  the  assertion  that  in  the  secret  ceremonies  of  the 
Moki  snake-dance  the  priest,  in  the  character  of  "  The  Ancient  of  the 
Six  "  (principal  directions,  /.  e. ,  as  the  representative  of  the  under- 
world, the  source  of  knowledge),  relates  the  legend  of  the  ancestors  of 
the  snake  gens,  on  which  the  whole  rite  depends.  In  the  creation 
myth  of  the  Zunis,  according  to  Mr.  F.  H.  Gushing,  the  narrative  is 
also  recited,  the  repetition  occupying  thirty-six  hours. 

Secondly,  the  myth  may  be  sung  and  danced  in  lyric  or  ballad 
form.  Although  no  religious  dance  songs  of  a  narrative  character 
have  come  down  to  us  from  Greek  and  Roman  antiquity,  their  ex- 
istence, and  in  great  number,  can  hardly  be  doubted.  Of  Indian 
ballads,  an  Osage  example  is  furnished  by  J.  Owen  Dorsey.* 

Thirdly,  the  narrative,  when  not  expressly  mentioned,  may  be 
presupposed,  and  referred  to  in  sacred  hymns,  often  of  so  mystical  a 
character  as  to  be  incomprehehsible  to  any  person  unacquainted  with 
the  myth.  A  striking  example  is  the  series  of  Navajo  songs  given  by 
Dr.  Washington  Matthews  in  his  account  of  the  Mountain  Ghant. 
Dr.  Matthews  is  my  authority  for  the  statement  that  the  creation  legend 
of  this  tribe,  though  apparently  not  the  object  of  a  particular  relig- 
ious treatment  in  ceremonial,  is  constantly  alluded  to  and  supposed  to 
be  known.     It  is  scarcely  worth  while,  in  the  narrow  limits  of  this 

*  Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnologjy,  Washington,  1888,  p.  381. 


RITUAL  REGARDED   AS   A  DRAMATIZATION  OF  MYTH.         239 

paper,  to  enlarge  upon  this  use  of  mythology;  perhaps  it  may  be 
at!irmed  that  ethnic  hymnology  and  psalmody  abound  in  examples, 
as  referring  to  histories  the  universal  comprehension  of  which  i» 
tacitly  assumed. 

Not  only,  however  (and  this  is  my  special  theme),  is  legend  the 
basis  of  ritual  speech  and  song,  but  also  of  ritual  costume  and  gest- 
ure. 

It  would  appear  that  into  many  or  all  social  religious  rites  there 
enters  an  element  of  dramatic  representation.  The  dance  or  the  feast 
does  not  consist  of  a  series  of  arbitrary  ceremonies;  on  the  contrary, 
it  is,  in  some  part,  a  presentation  of  a  sacred  history.  This  principle 
would  seem  to  make  part  of  all  religious  ritual,  from  that  of  the  very 
lowest  existing  races  to  that  of  the  most  civilized  communities. 

If  it  can  be  shown  that  legend,  in  worships  called  "  primi- 
tive," has  so  important  a  place,  it  cannot  be  true  that  myth  was  of 
secondary  importance  in  ancient  religions.  It  cannot  be  that  myth- 
ology had  no  sacred  sanction,  or  that  the  performance  of  the 
rite  was,  all  in  all,  without  reference  to  the  meaning  of  the  rite. 
On  the  contrary,  in  order  to  obtain  a  comprehension  of  any  cere- 
mony whatever,  it  must,  in  all  ages,  have  been  absolutely  essential  to 
understand  the  story  on  which  the  ceremony  is  supposed  to  depend; 
and  where  such  story  has  not  been  recorded,  or  imperfectly  recorded, 
then  the  true  character  of  the  rite  is  not  known,  or  is  imperfectly 
known. 

That  this  is  the  case  in  regard  to  the  worships  of  civilized  coun- 
tries, at  the  present  day,  is  not  disputed.  Suppose  an  observer,  ac- 
quainted with  no  more  than  met  the  eye,  to  attempt  a  description  of 
high  mass.  How  could  he  understand,  from  the  splendid  and  highly 
conventional  ritual,  that  the  essence  of  the  whole  is  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  supper  in  the  house  of  Simon,  as  well  as  the  repetition  of 
the  Passion?  The  history  is  essential  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
rite,  even  though  the  history  does  not  complete  the  explanation. 

Again,  if  from  the  supreme  function  of  Christianity  we  turn  to 
the  older  rite,  of  which  the  Paschal  supper  is  avowedly  the  modifica- 
tion, what  sort  of  a  conception  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  in  its  ancient 
or  modern  performance,  should  we  obtain  from  an  observer  acquainted 
with  the  order  of  the  actions,  but  unable  to  communicate  the  history 
of  which  the  ceremony  is  understood  to  be  the  commemoration? 

It  would  seem  that  the  true  relation  is  not  correctly  stated  by 
the  writer  who  has  been  quoted.     It  is  not  a  dogma,  but  a  narrative, 


240         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

on  which  the  ritual  of  Christianity,  as  well  as  of  Judaism,  is  depend- 
ent. Mythology  in  ancient  religions  does  not  take  the  place  of  dogma 
in  modern  faiths;  it  takes  the  place  of  historical  narrative  in  the  ad- 
vanced religions.  But,  as  ancient  myths  were  also  presumed  to 
be  history,  this  distinction  vanishes. 

It  is  further  to  be  considered  that  in  gentile  ceremonial  some 
part  of  every  festival  is  of  true  historic  import.  Not  only  are  the 
ritual  actions  assumed  to  dramatize  actual  events,  but  in  many  ways 
they  do  represent  such  events. 

Observations  on  North  American  aboriginal  religions  justify  the 
following  generalizations  which  will  probably  be  accepted  by  all 
workers  in  this  field: 

1.  Tribal,  gentile  or  social  religious  festivals  or  "dances"  de- 
pend, in  part,  on  myths,  which  are  dramatized  in  the  rites.  The 
presentation  is  usually  of  a  conventional  character,  rather  than  theat- 
rical, so  that  the  symbolism  is  apparent  only  to  the  initiated. 

2.  The  rites  are  performed  by  secret  societies,  possessing  initia- 
tions in  different  degrees;  of  the  ritual,  some  portions  are  intended  to 
be  public,  while  others  are  wrapt  in  secrecy;  they  constitute,  that  is  to 
say,  mysteries.  The  manner  of  the  celebration,  as  well  as  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  rites,  is  only  comprehended  by  the  initiated  persons, 

3.  The  dance  is  performed  by  masked  or  costumed  personages, 
who  enact  the  part  of  the  divine  beings  whose  history  is  recounted  in 
the  myths. 

To  this  third  principle  of  American  aboriginal  worship  an  import- 
ant addition  is  to  be  made,  which,  if  accepted,  will  be  found  to  cast  a 
vivid  light  on  the  theory  of  religious  observances. 

There  seem  to  be  good  reasons  for  believing  that  the  actor  was 
originally  considered  to  be  identical  with  the  being  represented; 
in  other  words,  that  the  god  in  his  own  person  appeared  on  the  stage 
and  performed  his  own  history  in  dramatic  representation. 

On  the  one  hand  this  involved  priestcraft;  spectators  were  made 
to  suppose  that  the  personages  whom  they  saw,  and  whose  disguise 
was  assumed  in  secret,  were  none  other  than  the  veritable  deities. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  belief  was  not  wholly  deception;  the  priest  or 
medicine  man  supposed  himself,  in  assuming  the  dress,  to  assume 
also  the  character,  to  be  under  divine  possession,  to  abdicate  his  own 
personality,  and  to  present  in  his  thoughts  and  actions  the  god  whom 
he  represented. 

If  there  were  here  time  to  discuss  so  vast  a  subject,  it  might  be 


RITUAL  REGARDED  AS   A  DRAMATIZATION  OF  MYTH.         241 

argued  that  such  assumption  of  foreign  personality  belongs  to  the 
original  idea  of  religious  masks.  It  might  be  suggested  that  the  old- 
est of  the  arts  is  the  'sacred  drama,  in  which  the  actors  are  divine,  and 
repeat  their  history  before  an  audience  consisting  both  of  gods  and 
men.  It  might  be  made  likely  that  after  the  progress  of  retlection 
had  forbidden  the  imagination  to  be  content  with  the  solemn  concep- 
tion of  immediate  visible  contact  with  personal  deities,  plastic  art  was 
introduced,  the  god,  now  regarded  as  distinct  from  the  priestly  cel- 
ebrant, being  supposed  to  animate  the  image  which  constituted  his 
medium  of  representation.  But  long  after  such  separation  had  taken 
place,  and  into  the  historic  period  of  civilized  races,  the  theory  of  the 
visible  presence  continued  to  survive. 

The  detailed  illustration,  by  examples  taken  from  American  wor- 
ships, of  the  principles  above  set  forth  is  the  less  necessary  because 
the  papers  which  will  be  read  at  this  meeting,  as  well  as  all  the  elabo- 
rate and  interesting  researches  made  during  the  last  few  years  in  the 
field  of  American  mythology,  constitute  such  illustration. 

To  argue  that  the  generalizations  set  forth  apply  also  to  all 
the  so-called  primitive  faiths  of  other  continents,  would  be  to  attempt 
a  task  for  which  materials  do  not  yet  exist.  It  may  only  be  affirmed 
that  what  is  known  of  Australian  or  African  rituals  is  no  way  incon- 
sistent with  the  supposition  that  these  conditions  do  represent  the  the- 
ory of  the  religious  usage  of  uncultured  races  in  general.*  It  will  be 
enough  to  suggest,  for  the  sake  of  urging  and  directing  investigation, 
that  an  original  feature  of  early  worship  is  the  mystery  or  sacred 
dramatic  representation;  that  in  such  rites  the  worshipers  consider 
themselves  as  visited  by  their  divine  relatives,  who  perform  before 
their  eyes  a  representation  of  the  presumed  sacred  history  which  con- 
stitutes the  testimony  of  the  divine  existence,  and  the  repetition  of 
which  is  assumed  to  be  a  condition  of  the  divine  aid. 


*  J.  M.  Orpen,  "  A  Glimpse  into  the  Mythology  of  the  Maiuti  Bushmen," 
Cape  Monthly  Magazine,  July,  1874.  In  answer  to  questions  abcnit  creation 
myths,  Orpen  was  told:  "Only  the  initiated  men  of  the  dance  know  about 
these  things."  C.  Lumholtz  describes  festival  dances  of  the  natives  on  the  Her- 
bert River,  North  Queensland.  These  dances  included  dressing  in  a  secret  cham- 
ber, disguise  hy  false  hair  and  beards,  painting,  and  elaborate  pantomime;  they 
lasted  six  weeks,  being  performed  at  night,  in  the  time  of  tiie  full  moon,  and 
were  accomjianied  by  fasting.  Lumholtz,  who  appears  to  have  had  no  concep- 
tion of  the  true  character  of  these  rites,  could  only  learn  that  they  were  con- 
nected with  "the  devil."     Among  Cannibals,  London,  1889,  p.  239. 


242         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

To  these  suggestions  a  few  words  may  be  added  with  regard  to 
the  place  held  by  myth  in  the  great  religions  of  antiquity. 

If,  for  example,  we  consider  the  legend  of  Osiris,  as  it  appears  to 
have  been  current  in  Egypt  from  very  early  times,  we  should  find  it 
run,  with  innumerable  variations,  somewhat  as  follows:  Osiris,  god 
and  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  born  in  Thebes,  is  worsted  and 
torn  to  pieces  by  his  brother  Set,  dwelling  in  the  Northeastern  des- 
erts. Isis,  sister  and  wife  of  Osiris,  lamenting  his  fate,  seeks  him 
with  lamentations,  gathers  up  the  fragments  of  his  body,  and  inters 
them  at  Abydos,  thus  rendering  herself  the  pattern  of  pious  devotion 
to  the  dead.  She  bears  a  child,  and,  her  babe  being  threatened  by  the 
jealousy  of  Set,  flies  from  Lybia  to  Egypt.  Reaching  the  marshes  of 
the  Nile,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chemnis,  she  hides  among  the  rushes 
the  babe,  who  is  discovered  and  nursed  by  the  goddess  Buto.  The 
young  Horus  is  crowned  by  the  gods,  departs  on  an  expedition  against 
the  destroyer  of  his  father,  and  in  his  turn  overcomes  and  rends  the 
slayer. 

The  myth,  it  will  be  observed,  is  a  version  of  a  story  be- 
longing to  a  class  of  folk  tales  which  relate  the  adventures  of  the 
son  of  a  slain  prince,  and  describe  in  what  manner  the  heir  is 
saved  from  the  pursuit  of  his  enemies  and  taken  to  a  foreign  land, 
from  which  he  at  last  returns  to  avenge  his  father  and  assume  the 
crown. 

Osiris,  in  ancient  texts,  is  variously  represented  as  the  moon  or 
sun,  the  under- world  or  the  Nile,  as  a  bull  or  ram,  as  a  sacred  plant 
or  the  growing  corn.  But  whether  an  Egyptian  considered  him  as 
incarnating  one  or  other  of  these  natural  objects,  no  religious  person 
doubted  that  his  history  was  a  real  history,  that  it  had  occurred  in  the 
ancient  time,  and  that  it  furnished  the  key  to  the  duty  of  man  and  the 
meaning  of  life. 

As  to  the  antiquity  of  the  myth,  it  must  be  considered  as 
implied  in  the  Egyptian  ritual  for  the  dead,  in  which  the  de- 
ceased is  represented  under  the  name  of  Osiris,  while  Isis  and  Nepthys 
appear  as  mourners.  It  hardly  seems  necessary  to  argue  that  this 
method  of  representation  implies  the  greater  age  of  the  mythology;  it 
would  never  have  occurred  to  any  Egyptian  to  consider  Osiris  as  a 
type  of  humanity,  unless  a  legend  of  his  death  and  burial  had  gener- 
ally been  known;  Isis  would  not  have  been  taken  for  the  model  of  a 
mourner,  unless  her  lamentation  for  her  brother  had  been  familiar; 
the  mystical  representation  of  every  funeral  as  a  divine  miracle  play 


RITUAL  REGARDED  AS   A  DRAMATIZATION  OF  MYTH.         243 

could  not  have  come  into  vogue,  unless  the  miracle  play  itself,  taken 
as  literal  repetition  of  history,  had  been  regularly  performed.  It  is 
therefore  evident  that  before  the  construction  of  the  earliest  pyramids 
there  must  have  existed  in  Egypt  a  religious  drama,  in  which  a  story 
of  Osiris  was  acted  out  in  song,  dance  and  masked  procession. 

Concerning  the  rites  of  the  chief  festival  of  this  city,  performed 
at  the  season  of  the  autumn  sowing,  Plutarch  gives  some  particulars. 
An  image  of  a  cow,  gilt  and  clothed  in  a  black  stole,  was  displayed 
during  a  term  of  four  days,  in  order  to  commemorate  the  lamentation 
of  Isis  and  her  search  for  the  lost  body  of  her  husband.  On  the  fifth 
day  of  the  feast,  sacristans  and  priests  carried  to  the  sea,  as  he  says, 
a  wooden  chest  containing  a  golden  ark,  into  which  was  poured  drink- 
ing-water, while  a  shout  was  raised  that  Osiris  had  been  discovered; 
then,  out  of  fertile  soil  mixed  with  the  water,  an  image  was  formed, 
of  a  luniform  character,  which  was  dressed  and  ornamented. 

According  to  the  same  author,  the  vernal  festival  celebrated  the 
birth  and  history  of  Horus,  whose  victory  over  Set  or  Typhon  was 
represented  by  hewing  in  pieces  a  rope.  In  the  same  symbolic  spirit 
the  cakes  manufactured  at  the  time  of  the  feast  represented  the  de- 
feated Set  under  the  image  of  a  bound  ass,  or  indicated  the  victory  of 
the  young  Horus  by  the  figure  of  a  falcon  striking  a  hippopotamus.* 

These  rites,  belonging  to  a  period  relatively  late,  may  have  been 
affected  by  philosophic  conceptions;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  similar  symbolism  would  have  been  found  in  the  ritual  of  an 
earlier  period.  Under  t^ese  circumstances  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  to  un- 
derstand in  what  sense  it  can  be  affirmed  that  the  myth  was  no  essen- 
tial part  of  the  religion.  It  appears  to  me  that  a  directly  opposite 
conclusion  is  indicated.  The  legends  on  which  so  solemn  a  worship 
depended  certainly  did  not  lack  a  sacred  sanction.  Rather  each  priest 
and  confraternity  had  an  independent  version  of  the  history,  regarded 
as  the  only  correct  account,  and  kept  with  asecrecy  proportionate 
to  its  assumed  consequence. 

This  particular  example  is  only  one  case.  The  worship  of  Osi- 
ris has  come  into  great  prominence,  and  the  monuments  give  fuller 
accounts  of  the  story  and  the  rites  than  is  the  case  in  other  ancient 
worships;  but  these  rites  were  by  no  means  singular  in  respect  of  their 
character  as  mysteries.  On  the  contrary,  in  all  countries  of  the  an- 
cient world  every  district,  every  temple  had  its  own  mysteries  or 


*  Tie  hide  et  Osiride,  19,  30,  39,  50,  52. 


244         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

sacred  dramas,  depending  on  holy  legends,  jealously  kept  secret,  and 
presented  in  testival  rites  performed  by  secret  societies,  by  masked  or 
costumed  actors.  These  legends,  in  consequence  of  this  sanctity, 
have  either  not  been  recorded  at  all,  or  preserved  only  in  literary  re- 
constructions, while  of  Greek  or  Roman  dramatic  ceremonial  no  ac- 
curate account  has  come  down. 

In  what  I  have  said  of  Egyptian  worship  1  do  not  mean  to  assert 
that  the  Osirian  myth  was  in  all  respects  older  than  the  accompanying 
ceremonies.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  very  likely  that  some  part  of  the 
rites,  devised  for  practical  purposes,  preceded  the  myth,  which  may 
thus  have  been  explanatory  or  etiological.  This  possible  early  ritual, 
however,  would  not  have  been  Osirian  religion,  as  it  exists  in  the 
monuments;  to  understand  this  religion,  the  story  is  as  essential  as 
the  usage.  Once  more,  these  hypothetical  primitive  ceremonies,  to 
judge  by  analogy,  would  have  had  their  own  mythology,  and  this 
would  have  entered  into  the  representation;  the  assumption  of  an 
original  pre-mythic  period  is  unsupported  by  any  observations;  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  such  stage  existed,  or  that  religion, 
since  the  birth  of  religion,  has  not  always  consisted  of  customs  accom- 
panied by  myths,  and  of  rites  symbolizing  stories.  These  histories, 
and  the  ceremonial  usages  with  which  they  are  connected,  act  and  re- 
act in  such  manner  that  it  cannot  be  said  that  either  element  is  the 
older;  on  the  contrary,  it  may  always  be  affirmed  with  equal  truth 
that  myth  depends  on  custom,  and  that  custom  is  influenced  by 
myth,  the  two  inseparable  divisions  of  worship  being  equally  ancient 
and  equally  important. 

If  there  is  any  correctness  in  these  views,  it  will  follow  that  a  re- 
ligion is  not  thoroughly  comprehended  unless  both  its  ritual  and  its 
mythology  are  known.  In  the  case  of  ancient  religions  that  knowledge 
seldom  exists.  Information,  therefore,  respecting  early  Hellenic  or 
Italian  religion  must  be  sought  from  the  folk-lore  of  races  which 
remain  in  corresponding  conditions  of  culture  to  those  which  may  be 
supposed  to  have  prevailed  in  the  beginnings  of  Hellenic  or  Italian 
society.  In  the  formation  of  such  a  record  of  existing  ceremonies,  it 
must  be  considered  that  the  observation  of  myth  is  as  important  as 
that  of  ritual.  The  attempt  to  effect  a  separation  between  these  in 
dissoluble  parts  of  worship,  to  indicate  one  as  primaryand  the  other 
as  secondary,  to  disregard  the  intellectual  part  of  religion  in  com- 
parison with  its  element  of  custom,  can  have  no  other  result  than 
that  of  confusion  and  misconception. 


RITUAL  REGARDED   AS   A   DRAMATIZATION   OF  MYTH.         245 

If  the  conclusions  indicated,  and  which  have  been  set  forth 
chiefly  in  order  to  serve  as  themes  for  discussion,  shall  be  accepted 
as  of  universal  application,  it  will  follow  that  most  of  the  conceptions 
which  have  been  favored  as  constituting  a  proper  basis  for  the 
classification  of  religions  will  be  found  inadequate,  and  that  the 
principle  of  historical  continuity  will  apply  to  a  much  fuller  extent' 
than  has  hitherto  been  assumed. 


SOME  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  CONNECTION    BETWEEN 

MYTH  AND  CEREMONY. 

BY  WASHINGTON  MATTHEWS. 

AMONG  the  Navajo  Indians,  as  perhaps  among  all  other  peo- 
ples, rites  are  connected  with  myths  or  with  tales  which  may 
not  be  all  mythical.  This  much  we  can  safely  aver;  but  we 
cannot  with  equal  confidence  declare  that  all  rites  have  originated  in 
myths,  or  at  least  in  the  myths  with  which  we  now  find  them  con- 
nected. Neither  can  we  affirm  that  the  myth  has  always  preceded  the 
associated  ceremony.  In  some  cases  a  Navajo  rite  has  only  one  myth 
pertaining  to  it.  In  other  cases  it  has  many  myths.  The  relation  of 
the  myth  to  the  ceremony  is  variable.  Sometimes  it  explains  nearly 
everything  in  the  ceremony  and  gives  an  account  of  all  the  important 
acts  from  beginning  to  end,  in  the  order  in  which  they  now  occur;  at 
other  times  it  describes  the  work  in  a  less  systematic  manner  and 
leaves  you  to  infer  that  the  orderly  arrangement  may  be  the  result  of 
an  afterthought. 

Some  of  the  myths  seem  to  tell  only  of  the  way  in  which  rites, 
already  established  with  other  tribes  were  introduced  among  the  Na- 

vajos. 

The  rite-myth  never  explains  all  the  symbolism  of  the  rite,  al- 
though it  may  account  for  all  the  important  acts.  A  primitive  and 
underlying  symbolism,  which  probably  existed  previous  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  rite,  remains  unexplained  by  the  myth,  as  though  its 
existence  were  taken  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  required  no  explana- 
tion. Some  explanation  of  this  foundation  symbolism  may  be  found 
in  the  creation  and  migration  myth  or  in  other  early  legends  of  the 
tribe;  but  something  remains  unexplained  even  by  these. 

The  myths  which  account  for  the  origin  or  introduction  of  rites 
have  each  a  central  figure  or  hero  who  may  be  called  the  prophet  of 
the  rites.  In  one  case  there  are  twin  prophets.  He  leaves  his  people ; 
wanders  among  foreign  tribes  and  among  the  gods,  or  among  divine 
beings  only;  learns  the  rites;  returns  to  his  people;  communicates  his 
knowledge  to  one  or  more  disciples,  and,  having  performed  his  mis- 
sion, disappears  mysteriously.     But  he  does  not  disappear  through 

246 


CONNECTION  BEEWEEN   MYTH   AND  CEREMONY.  247 

the  portals  of  death  or  to  the  eternal  home  of  ordinary  men  in  the 
lower  world.  He  is  apotheosized.  His  everlasting  home  is  at  least 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground  if  not  in  the  heavens.  After  his  de- 
parture he  may  still  manifest  himself  to  the  faithful  in  the  form  of 
some  natural  phenomenon. 

In  connection  with  the  adventures  of  this  hero,  an  account  of  the 
rites  should  properly  be  given;  but  this  is  a  part  of  the  story  which  is 
often  omitted.  1  have  obtained  rite-myths  from  Indians  both  with 
and  without  the  ceremonial  part.  I  shall  brietly  state  the  reasons  for 
this  omission.  The  portion  of  the  myth  relating  the  adventures  may 
be  told  to  any  one  and  may  be  easily  understood  and  remembered  by 
any  one;  hence  many  people  who  are  not  priests  of  the  rite  may  be 
found  who  know  the  narrative  portion  of  the  myth  only,  and  are 
ready  to  tell  it.  The  ritual  or  esoteric  portion  of  the  myth  is  usually 
known  only  to  a  priest  of  the  rite,  who  is  rarely  inclined  to  part  with 
this  knowledge.  Such  lore  interests  only  the  priest.  If  a  layman, 
unacquainted  with  all  the  work  of  the  rite,  should  hear  the  ritual  por- 
tion of  the  myth,  he  would  be  apt  to  forget  it,  having  little  knowledge 
of  the  rite  to  assist  his  memory.  I  have  seen  in  print  rite-myths  of 
other  tribes  in  which  descriptions  of  ceremony  were  obviously  omitted. 

Probably  the  most  important  as  well  as  the  most  ancient  Navajo 
ceremony  now  in  existence  is  that  of  the  kledji  qacal,  or  night  chant. 
This  rite  is  explained  by  two  principal  myths,  each  of  which  describes 
different  elements  in  the  long  and  intricate  ceremonial,  whose  perform- 
ance occupies  nine  nights  and  portions  of  ten  days. 

The  prophet  of  the  first  myth — that  of  the  songs  and  public 
dances — was  a  singular  youth  who  early  evinced  the  gift  of  second- 
sight  and  the  possession  of  magical  powers.  He  seemed  to  be  one 
favored  of  the  gods  and  in  their  confidence.  Once,  while  out  hunt- 
ing, he  was  seized  by  certain  gods,  the  Gaaskii — who  are  represented 
in  Navajo  mythology  as  assuming  the  form  of  the  mountain  sheep — 
and  borne  off  to  a  home  of  the  gods  in  certain  cliff-houses  in  a  canon 
north  of  the  San  Juan  River,  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Colorado. 
Here  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  various  gods  who  are  now  per- 
sonated in  the  dances  and  other  acts  of  the  night  chant,  and  he  be- 
held scenes  which  are  to  this  day  depicted  in  the  great  dry  paintings 
of  this  ceremony.  He  heard,  too,  numerous  sacred  songs  of  the  rites 
and  learned  them  by  heart  to  repeat  them  to  his  disciples  on  his  return 
to  his  home.  While  the  myth  describes  the  acts  of  these  gods,  it  does 
not  describe  the  gods  themselves.     They  seem  to  have  been  well- 


248         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

known  characters  before  the  prophet  went  on  his  journey,  and  we 
must  depend  on  separate  accounts  from  the  hps  of  learned  shamans 
in  order  to  discover  the  appearance  and  attributes  of  these  mysterious 
beings.  But  this  prophet  was  not  a  sick  man.  He  was  not  treated 
by  the  gods  for  disease.  If  we  would  learn  how  the  ceremonies  of  the 
night  chant  may  be  applied  to  the  cure  of  disease  we  must  seek  the 
explanation  in  the  second  myth. 

The  prophets  of  this  second  myth  were  characters  not  unknown 
to  the  myth-makers  of  the  Old  World.  One  was  crippled,  the  other 
was  blind.  The  blind  child  bore  the  seeing  cripple  on  his  back,  and 
thus  they  wandered  through  the  land.  This  unfortunate  pair  were 
the  fruit  of  a  clandestine  alliance  between  a  Navajo  woman  and  one 
of  the  gods  of  the  Canon  de  Chelly.  Their  starving  relations,  on 
their  mother's  side,  abandoned  them  in  the  wilderness  to  die.  They 
found  their  way  after  many  vicissitudes  to  the  Canon  de  Chelly, 
where,  through  the  intercession  of  their  father,  who  long  failed  to 
acknowledge  them,  they  were  cured  of  their  ailments  by  means  of 
ceremonies  which  are  described  minutely  in  the  myth,  and  which  are 
practiced  to  this  day.  But  there  are  now,  at  times,  variations  which 
the  myth  does  not  describe,  made  in  the  ceremony. 

Out  of  hundreds  of  instances  in  which  the  specific  rules  of  the 
ceremony  are  accounted  for  by  incidents  in  the  myth,  I  select  one  for 
illustration:  The  cripple  and  the  blind  boy  were  to  be  treated  for  their 
infirmities  by  means  of  a  hot-air  bath  in  a  small  lodge,  such  as  the 
Navajos  employ  now,  prepared  for  the  purpose  with  many  ritual  ob- 
servances. The  invalids  were  charged  to  say  not  a  word  while  in  the 
sudatory.  When  they  had  been  seated  there  awhile  and  were  per- 
spiring freely,  the  blind  child  became  conscious  that  he  saw  a  streak 
of  light  stealing  in  under  the  corner  of  the  blanket  which  hung  over 
the  opening  of  the  lodge.  Forgetting,  in  his  delight,  the  injunction 
of  the  gods,  he  cried  out:  "Oh,  brother!  1  can  see."  At  the  same 
moment  his  crippled  brother,  beginning  to  experience  the  benefit  of 
the  bath,  shouted  aloud:  "Oh,  brother!  I  can  move  my  limbs." 
In  an  instant  the  sweat-house,  the  hot  stones,  the  carpet  of  leaves,  all 
vanished,  and  the  children,  still  uncured,  were  left  sitting  on  the  bare 
ground  under  the  open  sky.  It  was  with  much  difficulty  that  the 
gods  could  be  persuaded  to  build  another  sudatory  and  repeat  the  cere- 
monies. In  consequence  of  the  sad  experience  of  these  twins,  the 
strictest  silence  is,  to-day,  enjoined  on  the  occupant  of  the  sacted 
sudatory. 


CONNECTION  BETWEEN  MYTH  AND  CEREMONY.  249 

Both  of  these  myths  refer  the  orighi  of  the  ceremonies  to  people 
dwelling  in  clirt-houses.  The  White  House  and  other  buildings  still 
standing  in  a  ruined  condition  in  the  Canon  de  Chelly  are  specitlcally 
mentioned  in  the  second  myth.  I  think,  it  not  improbable  that  these 
rites  may  have  been  derived  from  cliff-dwellers,  who  still  occupied  the 
land  when  the  first  small  vagrant  bands  of  Tinne  penetrated  to  the 
mountains  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  True,  the  myth  speaks  of 
these  clitf -dwellers  as  gods;  but  it  is  not  ditficult  to  believe  that  the 
rude  Athabaskan  wanderers,  in  the  days  when  they  subsisted  on  small 
mammals,  such  as  prairie  dogs,  and  on  the  seeds  of  wild  plants  (as 
their  legends  relate),  may  have  regarded  the  prosperous  agricultural 
clilT-dwellers  as  gods.  Or  it  may  be  that  the  myth  originally  referred 
only  to  the  masked  characters  in  the  clitf-dwellers'  rites  as  gods. 
The  Navajos  say  now  that  when  one  of  their  own  number  wears  the 
mask  of  a  god  and  personates  a  god,  he  is,  for  the  time  being,  act- 
ually that  god.  A  prayer  to  a  masquerading  representative  of  divinity 
is  a  prayer  to  a  god. 

But  besides  these  two  main  myths,  there  are  many  more  myths 
belonging  to  the  night  chant.  The  rite  contains  several  groups  of 
songs,  and  each  of  these  groups  has  its  myth  accounting  for  its 
origin.  Twenty-one  divine  characters  are  represented  in  the  rite  either 
by  song,  by  masquerade,  or  by  picture,  and  each  of  these  characters 
has  its  own  appropriate  myth  or  myths. 

In  the  myth  of  the  mountain  chant,*  which  1  have  already  puD- 
lished,  it  is  related  that  a  ceremony  of  somewhat  similar  character 
existed  prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  mountain  chant,  and  that  the 
rite  was  only  enriched  and  improved  by  the  prophet.  This  prophet, 
according  to  the  story,  was  taken  captive  by  the  Ute  Indians.  In  his 
escape  from  captivity  he  suffered  much.  His  limbs  became  sore  and 
swollen.  Certain  mountain  gods,  who  were  friendly  to  the  Navajos, 
and  whose  dwellings  he  visited  while  wandering  in  his  flight  through 
the  Carrizo  and  Tuincha  Mountains,  took  pity  on  the  fugitive,  taught 
him  the  secrets  of  their  sacrifices  and  showed  him  how  their  aid  might 
be  sought.  The  sacrifices  and  prayers  of  this  rite  are  directed,  with  a 
poetic  consistency  and  completeness,  to  the  natural  phenomena  which 
occur  in,  and  the  animals  which  inhabit,  the  high  mountains.  The 
myth  does  not  describe  the  acts  of  the  rite  in  their  consecutive  order; 


*  The  Mountain  ChanI:    A  Navajo  Ceremony.     Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology.     Washington,  1888. 


250        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

but  there  is  scarcely  any  act  which  is  not  alluded  to  in  the  course  of 
the  story.  A  suspicion  may  be  aroused  in  the  mind  of  the  hearer, 
who  accepts  this  by  no  means  ancient  tale  as  containing  something  of 
the  truth,  that  the  prophet  may  have  obtained  some  suggestions  of 
these  rites  from  the  Ute  Indians  while  he  was  captive  among  them. 

The  most  ingenious  and  poetic  rite-myth  which  I  have  obtained 
is  that  of  the. yoi-qacal,  or  chant  of  beads.  This  rite  is  also  known  as 
the  eagle  medicine.  It  at  least  claims  for  itself  a  totally  superhuman 
origin.  The  prophet  was  a  veritable  Navajo  Lazarus.  He  was  very 
poor,  as  the  Navajos  in  their  legends  represent  themselves  to  have 
been  in  the  ancient  days.  Unlike  other  people,  the  Navajos  have  no 
golden  age  in  the  past— the  present  is  the  happiest  period  in  their  his- 
tory. This  pauper  lived  near  one  of  the  ancient  pueblos,  now  in 
ruins,  in  the  Chaco  Caiion,  and  subsisted  on  the  refuse  of  pueblo 
feasts.  One  day  the  pueblo  people  found  on  the  face  of  a  high  cliff, 
in  a  small  cave,  an  eagle's  nest,  which  could  only  be  reached  by  low- 
ering a  man  with  a  rope  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice.  All  feared  to 
undertake  the  task  of  descending  the  clitT;  so  they  concluded  to  bribe 
the  starving  Navajo,  with  promises  of  abundant  food  for  the  rest  of 
his  life,  to  make  the  dangerous  descent.  He  accepted  the  otTer;  but 
when  he  was  lowered  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  the  wind  god  whis- 
pered in  his  ear  and  told  him  that  if  he  spared  the  eaglets  he  would 
meet  with  a  great  reward,  while,  if  he  stole  them  and  delivered  them 
to  the  people  of  the  Chaco,  the  latter  would  soon  forget  their  prom- 
ises and  leave  him  to  starve  as  before.  Hearing  this,  he  disengaged 
himself  from  the  rope  and  crept  into  the  cave.  In  vain  did  the  people 
of  the  pueblo  plead  with  him  and  call  him  endearing  names  and  re- 
new all  their  promises;  he  heeded  them  not,  and  after  a  while  they 
abandoned  their  elTorts  and  went  home.  Later  the  grateful  eagles 
(who  are  represented  as  men  dressed  in  the  feathered  robes  of  eagles) 
took  him  out  of  the  cave  and  flew  with  him  upwards.  They  bore  him 
through  the  sky-hole  and  up  to  the  pueblo  of  the  eagle-people  above 
the  sky.  Here  the  prophet  performed  other  valuable  services  for  the 
eagle-people,  and  in  return  for  his  good  deeds  he  was  initiated  into 
the  ceremonies  of  the  eagles. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  rites  and  rite-myths  of  the  Navajos 
seems  to  reveal  that  some  of  them  are  not  of  very  ancient  origin,  or 
at  least  have  not  been  long  known  to  the  tribe,  and  we  possess  tradi- 
tional evidence  that,  while  new  rites  are  being  introduced,  old  rites  are 
being  abandoned.    There  are  reasons  for  believing  that  suggestions 


CONNECTION  BETWEEN  MYTH  AND  CEREMONY.  25l 

for  rites  or  parts  of  rites  have  been  obtained  from  other  tribes;  but,  if 
this  is  the  case,  such  rites  have  been  modified  to  conform  to  the  fun- 
damental rules  of  Navajo  symbolism  before  being  adopted.  Some 
rites,  as  in  one  example  given,  appear  to  be  but  modifications  of  older 
ceremonies.  The  prophet  of  the  new  did  not  "come  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfill."  In  the  histories  of  other  Indian  tribes  we  find  many  instances 
of  the  introduction  of  new  ceremonies  in  recent  times. 


\ 


THE   FALL    OF    HOCHELAGA. 

t/1  Study  of  Popular  Tiadiiion. 

BY  HORATIO  HALE. 

WHEN,  in  the  early  autumn  of  1535,  the  intrepid  explorer 
Jacques  Cartier,  with  his  little  flotilla,  recalling  in  number 
and  dimensions  the  caravels  of  Columbus,  made  his  doubt- 
ful and  hazardous  way  up  the  great  stream  which  his  native  guides 
knew  as  the  River  of  Hochelaga,  but  v/hich  he  renamed  the  St. 
Lawrence,  he  found  the  lands  through  which  he  passed  occupied  by 
tribes  belonging  to  two  distinct  ethnic  groups.  These  have  been  com- 
monly known  as  the  Algonkin  (or  Algonquin)  and  the  Huron-Iroquois 
families.  The  latest  scientific  nomenclature  makes  them  the  Algon- 
quian  and  Iroquoian  stocks.  But,  for  the  purpose  of  the  present 
paper,  it  seems  advisable  to  retain  the  older  designations. 

From  his  guides,  who  were  two  Indians  of  the  Huron-Iroquois 
race  that  had  accompanied  him  to  France  from  an  earlier  voyage  to 
the  St.  Lawrence  Gulf,  he  learned  that  the  regions  along  the  river, 
on  both  sides,  from  its  mouth  as  far  inland  apparently  as  their  knowl- 
edge extended,  belonged,  according  to  the  native  notions,  to  three 
separate  provinces  or  "lands"  (ferres).  Nearest  the  Gulf  was  the 
land  of  Saguenay,  deriving  its  name  from  the  great  tributary  stream 
which  unites  with  the  St.  Lawrence  about  a  hundred  miles  below 
Quebec.  This  territory  was  occupied,  then  as  subsequently,  by  scat- 
tered bands  of  the  Algonkin  stock.  Next  came  the  province  of 
•'  Canada"  proper,  that  is  to  say,  the  land  of  the  "Town,"  for  such 
is  the  well-known  meaning  of  Canada  in  the  Iroquoian  language  and 
all  the  allied  idioms.  This  town  was  Stadacone,  a  native  village 
which  stood  near  the  site  of  what  is  now  Quebec.  It  was  the  capital 
or  chief  abode  of  Donnacona,  the  Great  Lord  {<t/lgouhana)  of  the 
province.  He  himself,  as  his  title  indicates,  was  of  the  Huron-Iro- 
quois stock,  though  his  people  seem  to  have  been  in  part  of  the 
Algonkin  family.  But  he  and  they  were  alike  subject  to  a  much 
mightier  ruler,  the  great  King  and  Lord  {^y  et  Seigneur)  of  HOCH- 
ELAGA. 

This  densely  peopled  and  strongly  fortified  town,  which  occu- 
pied the  site  of  what  is  now  Montreal,  was  visited  by  Cartier,  who 

252 


THE  FALL  OF  HOCHELAGA.  2^3 

has  left  us  a  vivid  description  of  the  place  and  its  inhabitants.  The 
path  by  which  he  approached  it  from  the  river  led  through  a  beautiful 
plain,  shaded  at  first  by  a  forest  of  stately  oaks,  to  which  succeeded 
large  and  well-cultivated  fields  of  maize.  In  the  midst  of  these 
plains,  rising  near  the  foot  of  a  lofty  eminence,  which  Cartier  named 
the  "  Royal  Mount"  {Mont  Royal,  now  abridged  to  Montreal),  the 
civic  fortress  presented  the  towering  and  formidable  front  which 
caused  the  early  settlers  of  Northern  New  York  to  give  to  the  similar 
strongholds  of  their  Iroquoian  neighbors  the  name  of  "  castles."  The 
enclosing  wall  was  composed  of  a  triple  row  of  tree-trunks,  shaped 
and  planted  as  palisades,  and  rising  to  the  height  of  two  lances' 
length.  The  middle  row  was  upright;  the  inner  and  outer  rows,  in- 
clining to  this,  were  crossed  at  the  top,  and  braced  by  horizontal 
beams,  thus  forming  galleries,  whence  missiles  could  be  showered 
upon  an  assailing  force.  Within  the  enclosure  were  fifty  spacious 
houses,  or  rather  barracks,  some  of  them  fifty  yards  long  by  fifteen  in 
width,  framed  of  wood,  and  covered  with  sheets  of  bark.  Each 
house,  divided  into  compartments,  was  the  abode  of  several  families; 
and  the  whole  population  probably  comprised  between  two  and  three 
thousand  persons.  But  this  number  did  not  really  indicate  the  de- 
fensive force  which  the  ruler  had  at  his  command.  The  occupants 
of  the  fortress  were  merely  a  local  garrison,  which  in  case  of  need 
could  soon  be  largely  recruited  from  the  neighboring  country.  For 
Hochelaga,  as  we  learn  from  Cartier,  was  the  capital  of  a  considerable 
empire,  embracing,  besides  the  "Canadians"  of  Stadacone,  "eight  or 
nine  other  peoples  along  the  great  river." 

In  1543,  France,  disturbed  by  civil  commotions,  withdrew  from 
North  America,  and  all  efforts  at  exploration  were  intermitted.  For 
nearly  sixty  years  the  names  of  those  strange  northern  chiefdoms 
which  Cartier  had  disclosed  to  the  world  remained  unmentioned.  It 
was  not  until  1598  that  the  Marquis  de  la  Roche,  a  nobleman  of  Brit- 
tany, at  length  obtained  from  Henry  IV.  authority  to  resume  the 
colonization  of  New  France,  and  received  with  this  authority  the 
grandiloquent  title  of  "  Lieutenant-General  of  Canada,  Hochela^ra, 
Newfoundland,  Labrador,  and  the  countries  adjacent."  But  five 
years  later,  when  Champlain,  who  was  to  be  the  actual  founder, 
made  his  way  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  seat  of  his  future  colony, 
he  found,  to  his  surprise,  that  Hochelaga,  along  with  Stadacone'  and 
its  other  subject  towns,  had  disappeared  entirely,  leaving  no  trace  of 
their  existence.     A  few  wandering  Algonkins  occupied,  but  hardly 


254        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

pretended  to  possess,  the  country  which  had  been  the  seat  of  this  lost 
empire.  They  and  their  Huron  allies  from  the  Georgian  Bay  lived 
in  a  state  of  constant  warfare  with  the  confederate  Iroquoian  nations, 
who  held  nearly  the  whole  southern  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Lake  Ontario,  and  kept  the  tribes  along  the  northern  coast  of  that 
river  and  lake  in  perpetual  alarm.  It  is  natural  to  inquire  what  had 
become  of  the  great  Hochelagan  dominion,  which  had  so  strangely 
vanished  and  had  been  replaced,  as  it  seemed,  by  a  still  more  for- 
midable power  on  the  southern  side  of  the  dividing  waters. 

This  is  a  question  with  which  many  historians,  from  Charlevoix 
to  Parkman,  have  dealt,  but  to  which  no  decisive  answer  has  thus  far 
been  returned.  It  is  evidently  a  question  of  no  small  importance, 
historical  as  well  as  ethnological,  for  it  concerns  the  leading  cause  of 
the  failure  or  success  of  French  and  British  colonization  in  America. 
If,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  three  centuries,  we  can  succeed  in  an- 
swering it,  there  may  be  good  hope  of  solving  hereafter  some  other 
still  more  interesting  and  perplexing  problems,  such,  for  example,  as 
the  origin  and  fate  of  the  Mound-builders  and  ClilTf-dwellers,  and  the 
source  and  development  of  Mexican  and  Mayan  civilization. 

In  the  present  case  the  problem,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  compara- 
tively simple.  Unless  we  make  the  very  unlikely  supposition  that 
not  only  were  Hochelaga  and  its  subject  towns  totally  destroyed,  but 
their  populations  completely  exterminated,  there  are  only  two  direc- 
tions in  which  we  can  reasonably  look  for  the  offspring  of  these  pop- 
ulations. The  'survivors  either  withdrew  to  the  south  side  of  their 
great  river,  and  there  united  with,  or,  as  some  suppose,  actually  be- 
came the  Iroquois  nations,or  else  they  retired  to  the  west  and  there 
joined,  or,  as  some  think,  wholly  composed  the  Huron  tribes  whom 
Champlain  found  near  the  Georgian  Bay.  The  question  is  thus  nar- 
rowed down  to  two  points:  Firstly,  to  which  of  these  ancient 
divisions  of  the  Huron-Iroquois  family  are  the  Hochelagan  people  to  be 
traced;  and  secondly,  by  what  hostile  power  was  the  overthrow  of 
their  state  accomplished? 

It  might  seem  that  the  evidence  of  language  alone  should  be  suf- 
ficient to  settle  the  first  of  these  points.  We  have  two  vocabularies 
left  us  by  C artier,  containing  many  of  the  common  words  by  which 
the  affiliations  of  language  are  determined.  But  unfortunately  all  that 
they  enable  us  to  prove  is  that  the  people  of  Cartier's  "  Land  and 
Kingdom  of  Hochelaga  and  Canada  "  spoke  a  dialect  of  the  Huron- 
Iroquois  stock.     Every  attempt  to  find  a  specially  close  connection 


THE   FALL   OF  HOCHELAGA.  25  5 

betv/een  this  dialect  and  that  of  any  other  known  branch  of  the  stock, 
has  thus  far  proved  a  failure.  The  imperfections  of  Cartier's  orthog- 
raphy and  the  changes  of  time  are  quite  sufficient  to  account  for  this 
result. 

In  the  absence  of  other  evidence  we  have  to  fall  back  upon  that 
of  tradition.  It  is  only  of  late  years,  and  especially  since  folk-lore 
has  become  a  science,  and  is  studied  as  such  in  connection  with  its 
sister  science  of  comparative  philology,  that  the  value  of  this  evidence 
has  been  fully  understood.  In  the  present  case  it  has  been  found  de- 
cisive. Several  years  ago,  while  engaged  in  studying  the  languages 
and  history  of  the  Canadian  tribes,  I  visited  the  Wyandots  of  Ander- 
don  on  the  Detroit  River,  the  last  feeble  remnant  of  the  only  tribe 
which  retained  in  Canada  the  speech  of  the  once  famous  and  power- 
ful Huron  people.  This  ill-fated  people,  crushed  by  the  Iroquois  in 
the  desperate  struggle  of  which  Parkman  in  his  volume  on  "  The 
Jesuits  in  North  America  "  has  given  us  a  narrative  of  singular  inter- 
est, fled  at  first  to  the  far  West  and  took  refuge  for  a  time  among  their 
Algonquin  friends,  the  Ojibwas,  on  the  shores  and  islands  of  Lakes 
Michigan  and  Superior.  After  a  time,  returning  gradually  eastward, 
they  made  their  principal  abode  for  a  term  on  the  island  of  Michili- 
mackinac.  Thence,  at  a  later  day,  descending  through  Lakes  Huron 
and  St.  Clair,  they  took  possession  of  the  fertile  plains  on  both  sides 
of  the  Detroit  River,  where  the  guns  of  Fort  Pontchartrain  and  the 
presence  of  friendly  Algonquin  bands — Ojibwas,  Ottawas,  and  others 
—gave  them  hope  of  security  against  their  persistent  Iroquois  enemies. 
The  same  distinguished  historian,  in  his  *' Conspiracy  of  Pontiac," 
has  described  the  remarkable  predominance  which  the  intellectual 
superiority  of  this  people,  even  in  their  reduced  condition,  enabled 
them  to  maintain  over  the  surrounding  tribes. 

Finally,  about  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  the  majority  of 
the  Wyandots,  on  both  sides  of  the  Detroit  River,  decided  to  remove 
to  the  southwest,  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Government. 
There  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and,  singularly  enough,  on  a  tract 
directly  adjoining  the  abode  of  an  emigrant  band  of  their  ancient 
enemies,  the  Senecas,  they  have  found  what  they  may  well  hope  to  be 
a  final  refuge.  It  is  interesting  to  know,  as  an  evidence  of  their 
strongly  conservative  character,  that,  after  so  many  wanderings  and 
vicissitudes,  they  retain  their  ancient  civic  polity  with  so  much  vigor 
that  Major  Powell  has  been  enabled,  in  "A  Study  of  Wyandot  Gov- 
ernment," to  reveal  fully  this  remarkable  system,  and  to  clear  up 


256        THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

many  mysteries  which  the  intelHgeiit  and  well-educated  Franciscan 
and  Jesuit  missionaries,  living  in  the  Huron  towns  nearly  three  cen- 
turies ago,  did  not  fully  comprehend. 

A  small  number  of  the  Wyandots,  not  exceeding  seventy,  but 
including  a  few  persons  of  superior  capacity,  clung  to  their  Canadian 
homes  and  remained  on  what  was  known  as  the  Anderdon  Reserve. 
From  them,  and  especially  from  their  chief,  an  elderly  man  of  noble 
presence  and  marked  intelligence,  much  information  concerning  the 
history,  customs  and  beliefs  of  the  people  and  their  ancestors  was  ob- 
tained. The  chief  bore  in  English  the  name  of  Joseph  White,  and  in 
his  own  language  the  somewhat  singular  appellation  of  Mandorong, 
or  "  Unwilling."  The  name,  which  he  owed  to  the  fancy  of  his  par- 
ents, did  not  by  any  means  indicate  his  disposition,  which  was  pecu- 
liarly frank  and  genial.  He  assured  me  that  the  traditions  of  his 
people  represented  them  as  having  dwelt  originally  in  the  east,  near 
Quebec.  He  had  once  journeyed  as  far  as  that  city,  and  had  then 
visited  the  remnant  of  the  Hurons  at  Lorette.  These  had  ceased  to 
make  use  of  their  ancient  language  in  their  ordinary  speech,  but  they 
had  not  entirely  forgotten  it;  and  they  still  retained  the  primitive 
traditions  of  their  race.  They  took  him,  he  said,  to  a  mountain,  and 
showed  him  the  opening  in  its  side  from  which  the  progenitors  of 
their  people  emerged  when  they  first  "  came  out  of  the  ground."  This 
notion,  which  prevails  in  many  countries,  is  commonly  held  to  be  a 
childish  myth,  born  of  a  metaphor,  through  which,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  ancient  Athenians,  a  people  proclaim  themselves  to  be  the  autoch- 
thones of  a  country.  Further  inquiry,  however,  has  led  to  the  opin- 
ion that  the  expression,  with  the  resulting  myth,  has  had  in  many 
cases  another  and  more  intelligible  origin.  It  indicated  in  the  first 
instance  simply  that  the  people  believed  their  ancestors  to  have  come 
"from  below,"  that  is,  "from  down-stream,"  or,  in  the  case  of  an 
oceanic  tribe,  "  from  the  leeward."  In  the  present  case  it  probably 
showed  that  the  Hurons  of  Quebec  believed  their  progenitors  to  have 
ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  from  an  earlier  abode  nearer  the  Atlantic 
coast. 

Among  other  informants  whom  I  consulted  in  my  successive 
visits  to  Anderdon  were  two  aged  men  of  considerable  ability  and 
some  literary  attainments— Alexander  Clarke,  the  Government  inter- 
preter, and  his  brother,  Peter  Dooyentate  Clarke.  They  were  sons  of 
an  English  officer  by  an  Indian  mother,  and  had  both  received  some 
schooling;  but  they  had  spent  their  lives  among  the  Indians,  with 


THE   FALL   OF  HOCHELAGA.  257 

whose  ideas,  customs  and  legends  they  were  thoroughly  familiar. 
From  Peter  I  received  a  small  printed  book,  of  which  he  claimed  to 
be  the  author,  and  doubtless  with  truth,  though  he  had  evidently  had 
the  occasional  aid  of  a  more  practiced  hand.  It  was  published,  in  1870, 
by  Hunter,  Rose  &  Co.,  of  Toronto,  and  bore  the  title  of  "  Origin 
and  Traditional  History  of  the  Wyandots,  and  Sketches  of  Other 
Indian  Tribes  of  North  America."  A  careful  perusal  and  some  con- 
versation with  the  author  left  no  doubt  that  he  had  done  his  best  to 
give  a  fair  and  correct  report  of  the  beliefs  which  prevailed  among 
his  people  respecting  the  events  of  their  troubled  history. 

To  make  these  clear,  it  should  be  explained  that  the  people  lO 
whom  the  French  colonists  gave,  in  their  dialect,  the  nickname  of 
Hurons,  or  "  Shock-heads,"  from  their  mode  of  dressing  their  hair, 
were  known  among  themselves  and  to  other  tribes  of  the  same  race  as 
the  "  Wandat,"  a  word  which  means  simply  "  of  one  speech."  This 
name  was  corrupted  by  the  English  to  "Wyandot,"  and  has  now, 
except  in  literature  and  as  a  geographical  expression,  superseded  the 
more  euphonious  French  term.  The  modern  Wyandots  are  mostly 
descended  from  a  single  Huron  tribe,  the  only  one  which  retained  its 
organization  when  the  confederacy  was  broken  up  by  the  Iroquois. 
This  tribe,  which  originally  dwelt  apart  from  the  others,  in  the  hilly 
region  about  Nottawassaga  Bay,  was  known  to  its  allies  and  to  the 
French  as  the  Tionontates,  or  "  People  beyond  the  Mountains,"  and 
more  commonly  to  the  traders  as  "  the  Tobacco  Nation"  {Nation  du 
Petun),  from  a  choice  variety  of  tobacco  which  they  cultivated  and 
sold.  They  had  still  another  name,  as  will  be  hereafter  mentioned. 
In  various  respects  these  Tionontate's  bore  to  the  other  Huron  tribes 
the  same  relation  which  the  Caniengas  (who  are  commonly  known 
by  the  nickname  of  Mohawks)  bore  to  their  fellow  "  nations"  of  the 
Iroquois  confederacy.  They  were  deemed  the  oldest  in  lineage  and 
the  highest  in  civil  rank.  Their  head-chief  surpassed  in  dignity  all 
other  chiefs.  Their  dialect  was  the  source  from  which  the  dialects  of 
all  the  other  tribes  of  their  branch  were  derived.  This  linguistic  pa- 
ternity and  pre-eminence  of  the  Mohawk  speech  among  the  Iroquois 
dialects  had  been  already  made  clear  to  me  by  a  careful  comparison 
of  vocabularies  and  grammars.  My  inquiries  on  the  Anderdon  Re- 
serve brought  out  equally  convincing  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the 
speech  of  the  Tionontates  was  the  oldest  in  form,  not  only  of  the 
Huron  dialects,  but  of  all  the  Huron-Iroquois  languages.  It  alone, 
with  the  doubtful  exception  of  the  Cherokee  (which  bears  marks  of 


258         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

being  a  "  mixed  language  "),  has  retained  a  labial  articulation,  the  m, 
which,  with  all  other  labials,  the  remaining  idioms  of  that  stock  have 
lost. 

Of  the  persistence  of  ancient  names  and  beliefs  in  this  Huron  sept 
I  found  remarkable  evidence  in  a  story  related  to  me  by  Chief  Man- 
dorong,  and  confirmed  in  a  singular  and  unexpected  manner  from 
various  other  quarters.  This  story,  which  may  be  entitled  "The 
Legend  of  King  Sastaretsi,"  *  is  given  in  my  note-book  as  follows: 

"  In  very  ancient  times  the  Hurons  (or  Wandat)  had  a  great  king, 
or  head-chief,  named  Sastaretsi.  They  were  then  living  in  the  far 
east,  near  Quebec,  where  their  forefathers  first  came  out  of  the 
ground.  The  king  told  them  that  they  must  go  to  the  west,  in  a  cer- 
tain direction,  which  he  pointed  out.  He  warned  them,  moreover, 
that  this  would  not  be  the  end  of  their  wanderings.  He  instructed 
them  that  when  he  died  they  should  make  an  oaken  image  resembling 
him,  should  clothe  it  in  his  attire  and  place  it  upright  at  the  head  of 
his  grave,  looking  toward  the  sunrise.  When  the  sunlight  should  fall 
upon  it,  they  would  see  the  image  turn  and  look  in  the  direction  in 
which  they  were  to  go. 

' '  King  Sastaretsi  went  with  his  people  in  their  westward  journey 
as  far  as  Lake  Huron  and  died  there.  But  he  had  time  before  his 
death  to  draw,  on  a  strip  of  birch-bark,  by  way  of  further  guidance, 
an  outline  of  the  course  which  they  were  to  pursue,  to  reach  the 
country  in  which  they  were  finally  to  dwell.  They  were  to  pass  south- 
ward down  Lake  Huron,  and  were  to  continue  on  until  they  came  to 
a  place  where  the  water  narrowed  to  a  river,  and  this  river  then  turned 
and  entered  another  great  lake. 

"When  he  died,  they  fulfilled  his  commands.  They  made  an 
image  of  oak,  exactly  resembling  their  dead  king,  clothed  it  in  his 
dress  of  deerskin,  adorned  the  head  with  plumes  and  painted  the  face 
like  the  face  of  a  chief.  They  set  up  this  image  at  the  head  of  the 
grave,  planting  it  firmly  between  two  strong  pieces  of  timber,  its  face 
turned  to  the  east.  All  the  people  then  stood  silently  round  it  in  the 
early  dawn.  When  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  shone  upon  it,  they 
saw  the  image  turn  with  such  power  that  the  strong  timbers  between 
which  it  was  planted  groaned  and  trembled  as  it  moved.     It  stayed  at 


*  This  legend  was  published  in  the  Magazine  of  American  History  for  Decem- 
ber, 1883,  in  an  article  entitled  "A  Huron  Historical  Legend."  Some  of  the 
explanations  which  there  accompanied  it  are  here  also  retained. 


THE   FALL  OF  HOCHELAGA.  259 

length,  with  its  face  looking  to  the  south,  in  the  precise  direction  in 
which  the  chief  had  instructed  them  to  go.  Thus  his  word  was  ful- 
filled, and  any  hesitation  which  the  people  had  felt  about  following 
his  injunctions  was  removed. 

"  A  chosen  party,  comprising  about  a  dozen  of  their  best  war- 
riors, was  first  sent  out  in  canoes,  with  the  birch-bark  map,  to  follow 
its  tracings  and  examine  the  country.  They  pursued  their  course 
down  Lake  Huron,  and  through  the  River  and  Lake  St.  Clair,  till 
they  came  to  where  the  stream  narrowed,  at  what  is  now  Detroit; 
then  advancing  further,  they  came,  after  a  brief  course,  to  the  broad 
expanse  of  Lake  Erie.  Returning  to  the  narrow  stream  at  Detroit, 
they  said:  '  This  is  the  place  which  King  Sastaretsi  meant  to  be  the 
home  of  our  nation.'  Then  they  went  back  to  their  people,  who,  on 
hearing  their  report,  all  embarked  together  in  their  canoes  and  passed 
southward  down  the  lake,  and  finally  took  up  their  abode  in  the 
country  about  Detroit,  which  they  were  to  possess  as  long  as  they  re- 
mained a  nation.  The  image  of  King  Sastaretsi  was  left  standing  by 
his  grave  in  the  far  north,  and  perhaps  it  is  there  to  this  day." 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  narrative  ' '  King  Sastaretsi "  is 
described  as  leading  the  Hurons  in  their  migration  from  the  east,  and 
as  dying  just  before  their  return  from  the  northwest  to  the  vicinity  of 
Lake  Erie.  The  time  which  elapsed  between  these  two  events  cannot 
have  been  less  than  a  century.  This  portion  of  the  legend,  at  first 
perplexing,  is  explained  in  a  singular  and  unexpected  manner  by  a 
passage  in  the  well-known  work  ("  New  Voyages  to  North  America  ") 
of  the  French  traveler  Baron  La  Hontan,  whose  descriptions  of  New 
France  in  the  period  between  the  years  1683  and  1694  contain  the  re- 
sults of  much  inquiry  and  acute  observation.  "The  leader  of  the 
nation  of  Hurons,"  he  tells  us,  "  is  called  Sastaretsi.  The  name,"  he 
adds,  "  has  been  kept  up  by  descent  for  seven  or  eight  hundred  years, 
and  is  likely  to  continue  to  future  ages. "  This  practice  of  keeping  up 
the  name  of  a  chief  by  succession  seems  to  have  been  common  among 
the  tribes  of  the  Huron-iroquois  stock.  The  names  of  the  fifty  chiefs 
who  formed  the  Iroquois  league  have  thus  been  preserved  for  more 
than  four  hundred  years.  The  Sastaretsi  who  led  his  people  from  St. 
Lawrence  to  Lake  Huron  was  the  predecessor  of  his  namesake  whose 
dying  injunctions  induced  them,  after  their  overthrow  and  expulsion 
by  the  Iroquois,  to  take  refuge  about  the  French  forts  at  Detroit  and 
in  Northern  Ohio. 

It  is  a  curious  and  noticeable  fact,  however,  that  neither  the  Iro- 


260         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

quois  nor  the  French  are  mentioned  in  this  story,  nor  is  any  reason 
given  for  either  the  departure  of  the  Hurons  from  their  original  home 
near  Quebec,  or  for  their  return  from  the  northwest  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Detroit.  The  pride  of  the  hidian  character  refused  to  admit 
that  their  wanderings  were  determined  by  any  power  beyond  their  own 
will  and  the  influence  of  their  chief. 

The  story  of  the  image  is  probably  true  in  its  main  incidents, 
though  tradition  has  added  some  marvelous  details.  It  was  natural 
that  the  French,  after  they  had  established  their  forts  in  Michigan  and 
Ohio,  should  desire  to  have  the  aid  of  their  Indian  allies  in  defending 
them  against  the  Iroquois  and  the  English.  This  project  would  involve 
the  removal  of  the  Hurons  from  their  asylum  in  the  far  north  to  the 
perilous  vicinity  of  their  powerful  and  dreaded  foes.  While  the  lead- 
ers might  be  persuaded,  by  the  arguments  and  solicitations  of  their 
French  friends,  to  take  this  risk,  the  majority  of  the  people  may  have 
been  unwilling  to  abandon  their  secure  retreat  and  their  cultivated 
fields.  To  overcome  this  hesitation,  it  would  be  natural  also  for  the 
chiefs  to  employ  some  artifice.  Of  this  species  of  management,  to 
which  the  leading  men  among  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois  were  wont  to 
resort  in  dealing  with  their  self-willed  but  credulous  people,  many 
curious  and  amusing  examples  are  related  by  the  early  missionaries. 
In  the  present  instance  it  would  seem  that  an  appeal  was  made  to  the 
reverence  with  which  the  memory  of  their  deceased  head-chief  was 
regarded.  A  rude  image  of  him  was  set  up  with  much  formality  and 
a  report  was  circulated  of  a  death-bed  prediction  made  by  him  con- 
cerning it.  Early  in  the  morning  after  its  erection  the  image  was 
found  to  have  preternaturally  changed  its  position  and  to  be  gazing  in 
the  direction  in  which  the  great  chief,  in  his  lifetime,  had  desired  that 
his  people  should  go.  This  monition  from  the  dead  was  effectual,  and 
the  emigration  at  once  took  place.  The  legend,  as  told  in  after  times, 
assumed  naturally  a  more  lively  and  striking  cast;  but  in  its  leading 
outlines  it  is  intelligible  and  credible  enough.  Its  chief  interest,  how- 
ever, resides  in  the  fact  that  it  proves  beyond  question  the  existence  of 
a  belief  among  the  Wyandots  of  the  present  day  that  their  ancestors 
came  to  the  west,  at  no  very  distant  period,  from  the  vicinity  of 
Quebec. 

Two  casual  references  which  are  made  to  this  subject  in  the 
Jesuit ' '  Relations  "  deserve  to  be  noticed.  In  general  the  missionaries, 
while  describing  with  much  particularity  the  customs  and  religious 
rites  of  the  Indians,  and  in  fact  every  matter  which  seemed  to  have 


THE  FALL  OF  HOCHELAGA.  26l 

any  bearing  on  the  work  of  their  conversion,  took  no  pains  to  record 
any  facts  relating  to  the  early  history  of  the  tribes.  Only  a  casual 
allusion  apprises  us  that  the  former  residence  of  the  Hurons  near  the 
coast  was  spoken  of  among  them  as  a  well-known  fact.  The  "  Rela- 
tions" for  1636  contain  a  full  and  detailed  account  of  the  Huron  na- 
tion by  Brebeuf,  an  admirable  work,  from  which  our  knowledge  of 
that  people  in  their  primitive  state  is  chiefly  drawn.  In  speaking  of 
their  festivities,  he  ascribes  the  origin  of  some  of  their  dances  to  the 
teaching  of  a  certain  being,  "  rather  a  giant  than  a  man,"  whom  the 
people  encountered  at  the  time  when  they  lived  by  the  seaside  {lors 
qu'ils  habitoient  sur  le  bord  de  la  mer). 

The  other  allusion  seems,  at  the  first  glance,  to  bear  a  different 
interpretation.  It  has  been  quoted  by  Gallatin  and  others  as  afford- 
ing evidence  that  the  people  whom  Cartier  encountered  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  were  Iroquois;  but  a  careful  consideration  of  the  facts,  in 
the  light  of  recent  information,  shows  that  this  inference  cannot  prop- 
erly be  drawn  from  it.  Father  Le  Jeune  writes  from  the  vicinity  of 
Quebec  in  1636:  "  1  have  often  sailed  from  Quebec  to  Three  Riv- 
ers. The  country  is  fine  and  very  attractive.  The  Indians  showed 
me  some  places  where  the  Iroquois  formerly  cultivated  the  land." 
These  Indians  were  of  the  Algonquin  race,  and  their  statement,  which 
we  need  not  question,  merely  shows  that  their  immediate  predeces- 
sors in  that  locality  were  Iroquois.  If,  as  the  traditions  of  the  Hurons 
affirm,  the  flight  of  their  ancestors  from  their  eastern  abode  was 
caused  by  the  attacks  of  the  Iroquois,  we  may  be  certain  that  these 
conquerors  did  not  leave  the  deserted  country  vacant.  Their  first 
proceeding  would  be  to  assume  possession  of  it  and  to  plant  colonies 
at  favorable  points.  This  was  their  custom  in  all  their  conquests. 
An  Iroquois  colony  was  thus  established  at  Shamokin,  now  Sunbury, 
in  Pennsylvania,  after  the  Delawares  were  subdued;  and  other  settle- 
ments secured  the  territories  which  the  confederacy  acquired  in  North- 
ern Ohio.  Thus  it  would  seem  probable  that,  after  the  flight  of  the 
Hurons,  the  Iroquois  held  their  lands  along  the  northern  bank  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  for  a  considerable  time.  At  length,  however,  the  an- 
noyance and  loss  from  the  incessant  attacks  of  the  surrounding 
Algonquins  became  so  intolerable  as  to  make  these  distant  outposts 
not  worth  keeping.  Their  abandonment  apparently  did  not  long  pre- 
cede the  arrival  of  Champlain,  who,  as  is  well  known,  found  the 
Hurons  and  the  Algonquins  united  in  strict  alliance,  and  engaged  in 
a  deadly  warfare  with  the  Iroquois. 


262         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

On  another  occasion,  Chief  Mandorong  gave  me  an  account  of 
the  origin  of  the  war  between  the  Hurons  and  the  Iroquois  which 
caused  his  people  to  leave  their  eastern  abode.  The  two  communities 
were  living  near  each  other,  beside  the  mountain  from  which  their 
ancestors  had  issued.  They  dwelt  on  opposite  sides  of  the  mountain, 
and  apparently  of  the  river,  though  the  latter  point  was  left  in  some 
obscurity  in  the  narrative.  To  prevent  dilferences,  the  chiefs  had  for- 
bidden the  people  of  the  two  tribes  to  intermarry.  An  Iroquois  war- 
rior at  length  transgressed  this  interdict  and  married  a  Huron  woman. 
She  incurred  his  anger  by  some  misconduct,  and  was  killed  by  him. 
The  chiefs  of  the  two  tribes  held  a  conference  and  agreed  that,  as  she 
seemed  to  have  merited  her  fate,  her  husband  should  go  unpunished. 
This  decision,  however,  did  not  satisfy  her  kinsmen.  One  of  them 
went  secretly  into  the  country  of  the  Iroquois  and  killed  a  man  of  that 
people.  Thereupon  a  war  arose  between  the  two  nations.  Many 
conflicts  took  place,  in  which  the  Hurons  generally  had  the  best.  At 
last,  however,  by  an  act  of  treachery,  the  Iroquois  got  possession  of 
the  Huron  town  during  a  truce,  when  the  men  were  absent  from  it, 
holding  a  council  elsewhere,  and  killed  all  the  women  and  children. 
When  the  Huron  warriors  returned  and  found  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren massacred,  their  grief  and  wrath  knew  no  bounds.  They  pur- 
sued and  overtook  the  murderers  (as  the  chief  affirmed)  and  slew  them 
to  the  last  man.  They  then  quitted  the  mountain  near  Quebec,  and 
scattered  themselves  over  the  country.  This  statement  may  be  taken 
as  sufficient  evidence  that  what  they  had  suffered  was  really  an  over- 
whelming defeat.  That  this  was  the  belief  of  the  chief  was  evident 
from  what  he  immediately  added— that  there  were  some  families 
which  had  not  been  included  in  the  massacre,  having  been  in  the 
woods,  hunting  or  otherwise  engaged  at  the  time;  and  from  them  all 
the  Wyandots  are  descended.  He  further  said  that  the  missionaries 
were  in  the  country  at  the  time  of  the  final  dispersion,  though  not  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  It  was  evident  that  he  looked  upon  the  war 
as  a  secular  strife  which  began  in  early  times  in  the  far  east,  and  was 
fought  out  through  many  years  and  successive  stages  of  westward 
flight  and  pursuit,  until  it  culminated  near  Lake  Huron  in  the  terrible 
conflicts  witnessed  and  recorded  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  several  of 
whom  perished  in  its  final  agonies.  If  we  wish  to  picture  to  ourselves 
the  incidents  which,  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  preceded,  accompanied 
and  followed  the  fall  of  Hochelaga,  we  have  only  to  turn  to  the  pages 
in  which  Parkman  has  related  the  closing  scenes  of  the  same  contest. 


THE   FALL  OF   HOCHELAGA.  263 

The  traditions  preserved  by  Peter  Clarke  in  his  book  accord  in 
general  with  those  related  to  me  by  Chief  Joseph  White,  ditTering  just 
enough  to  show  that  the  two  narratives  are  the  independent  testimon- 
ies of  honest  reporters.  "From  traditional  accounts,"  writes  Clarke, 
"the  Wyandots  once  inhabited  a  country  northeastward  from  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  somewhere  along  the  Gulf  coast,  be- 
fore they  ever  met  with  the  French  or  any  European  adventurers." 
At  a  later  period,  "during  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century," 
as  he  thinks— though  his  chronology  must  be  conjectural— a  rupture 
took  place  between  the  Wyandots  and  the  Iroquois  (whom  Clarke 
generally  designates  by  the  name  of  their  largest  tribe,  the  Senecas), 
"while  they  were  peaceably  sojourning  together,  in  separate  villages, 
within  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  Montreal."  "At  this  time,"  he 
adds,  "  and  back  to  an  unknown  period,  the  Iroquois  and  Wyandots 
had  always  dwelt  in  the  same  region,  where  their  abodes  and  hunting- 
grounds  were  conterminous.  There  are,"  he  says,  "conflicting 
accounts  of  the  cause  which  led  to  the  quarrel.  Some  say  that  it 
commenced  about  a  Seneca  maiden  and  a  chief's  son."  The  wrongs 
of  the  maiden  led  to  the  assassination  of  a  Seneca  chief  by  a  Wyandot 
warrior.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  and  a  strong  evidence  of  the  truthful- 
ness of  the  narrative,  or  at  least  of  the  narrators,  that  both  Clarke 
and  White  admitted  that  their  own  people  were  in  fault  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war.  The  result  is  told  alike  in  both  narratives,  but  with 
more  particularity  by  Clarke.  The  Wyandots  "broke  up  their  vil- 
lages and  journeyed  westward,"  until  they  reached  Niagara.  Here 
they  remained  a  considerable  time,  and  then  "  migrated  northward  to 
where  the  city  of  Toronto  now  stands."  Thence  after  a  time,  in  fear 
of  the  Iroquois,  they  retreated  still  farther  to  the  north,  until  they 
reached  Lake  Huron.  Here  they  found  game  abundant,  and  abode 
for  many  years.  And  here  they  were  joined  by  a  band  of  their  own 
people  who  had  remained  on  the  Ottawa  River.  These  doubtless 
composed  that  branch  of  the  Huron  nation  which  had  separated  from 
the  Tionontates  on  the  overthrow  of  the  Hochelagan  dominion,  and 
had  retreated  from  Montreal  up  the  Ottawa  River.  It  was  along  this 
river  that  Champlain  and  the  French  missionaries  followed  the  traces 
of  these  fugitives  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  From  this  north- 
ern refuge  on  the  Georgian  Bay,  Champlain,  with  a  party  of  his  sol- 
diers, led  a  Huron  army  into  the  region  south  of  Lake  Ontario,  on  an 
expedition  against  the  Iroquois,  which  ended  disastrously.  Had  the 
result  been  otherwise  and  the  Iroquois  been  crushed,  as  the  assailants 


264        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

expected,  the  course  of  North  American  history  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  widely  deflected.  The  attack  of  Champlain  and  his  redskin 
allies  was  soon  terribly  avenged  by  the  Iroquois  warriors,  whose  raids 
broke  up  the  Huron  towns  and  kept  back  the  French  settlements  for 
more  than  a  century,  while  the  English  colonies  were  gathering 
strength. 

The  flight  of  the  Tionontates,  first  to  Michilimackinac,  and  thence 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Detroit,  is  narrated  by  Clarke  at  some  length. 
In  connection  v/ith  the  latter  movement  is  mentioned  ' '  the  last  of  the 
ancient  line  of  head-chiefs  or  kings  of  pure  Wyandot  blood,  named 
Suts-tau-ra-tse."  He  is  spoken  of  as  living  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  is  said  to  have  died  at  a  great  age  in  its  last 
decade.  He  was  probably  the  grandson  of  the  King  Sastaretsi  of  my 
friend  Mandorong's  legend;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  was 
the  person  who  was  seen  in  his  boyhood  by  Charlevoix,  when  that 
historian  visited  Detroit  as  the  guest  of  the  Commandant,  Tonti,  in 
1721.  He  describes  a  great  meeting  of  the  neighboring  tribes,  Huron 
and  Algonquin,  which  was  called  by  the  Commandant  to  receive  a  mes- 
sage from  the  Governor.  "  Sastaretsi,"  writes  Charlevoix,  "whom 
our  Frenchmen  call  the  King  of  the  Hurons  (and  who  is  in  fact  the 
hereditary  chief  of  the  Tionontates,  who  are  the  true  Hurons),  was 
present.  But  as  he  is  still  a  minor,  he  came  merely  for  the  form. 
His  uncle,  who  governs  for  him  and  who  is  styled  the  Regent,  spoke 
in  his  stead,  in  the  quality  of  the  orator  of  the  nation.  When  a 
council  is  held,  the  honor  of  speaking  for  all  the  tribes  is  commonly 
conferred  upon  the  Hurons." 

On  another  occasion  this  noted  name  turned  up  unexpectedly. 
In  obtaining  from  my  Iroquois  friends  a  list  of  the  Indian  tribes  with 
which  they  were  acquainted,  1  received  from  them  two  names  for  the 
Tionontates,  in  addition  to  the  latter  name,  which  was  merely  a  local 
designation.  One  of  the  names  was  Wanat,  the  Iroquois  form  of 
Wandat;  the  other  was  Sastaretsi.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  an  Indian 
tribe  of  the  Huron-Iroquois  stock  to  be  named  from  its  principal  her- 
editary chief.  A  common  name  of  the  Mohawks  was  the  plural  form 
of  the  title  of  their  leading  chief,  Tekarihoken. 

An  important  confirmation  of  the  tradition  received  from  the 
Anderdon  Wyandots  is  furnished  by  a  high  authority.  That  accom- 
plished ethnologist  and  careful  investigator,  the  late  Sir  Daniel  Wilson, 
contributed  to  the  transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada  for 
1884  an  admirable  paper,  entitled  "The  Huron-Iroquois— A  Typical 


THE   FALL  OF  HOCHELAGA.  20") 

Race."  This  paper  is  reprinted  in  his  latest  volume,  "The  Lost 
Atlantis  and  other  Ethnographic  Studies,"  and  should  be  consulted  by 
every  student  of  this  interesting-  subject.  He  had  visited  the  Hurons 
of  Lorette,  near  Quebec,  already  referred  to— a  small  band  of  some 
three  hundred  half-castes,  descended  from  Huron  refugees  who  found 
an  asylum  in  that  quarter  after  the  destruction  of  their  towns  in  the 
west  by  the  Iroquois.  In  referring  to  the  story  told  me  by  the  Ander- 
don  chief,  Joseph  White,  Sir  Daniel  Wilson  adds:  "  The  late  Huron 
chief,  Tahourenche,  or  Francois  Xavier  Picard,  communicated  to  me 
the  same  legendary  tradition  of  the  indigenous  origin  of  his  people; 
telling  me,  though  with  a  smile,  that  they  came  out  of  the  side  of  a 
mountain  between  Quebec  and  the  great  sea.  He  connected  this  with 
other  incidents,  all  pointing  to  a  traditional  belief  that  the  northern 
shores  of  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  were  the  original  home  of  the  race; 
and  he  spoke  of  certain  ancient  events  in  the  history  of  his  people  as 
having  occurred  when  they  lived  beside  the  big  sea." 

All  these  facts,  taken  together,  seem  to  lead  to  conclusions  of 
great  importance  with  regard  to  the  value  of  traditional  evidence.  It 
is  plain  that  until  recently  this  evidence  has  been  seriously  underval- 
ued. Our  students  of  history  have  been  too  generally  a  book-wor- 
shiping race,  unwilling  to  accept  any  testimony  with  regard  to  ancient 
events  which  is  not  found  in  some  contemporary  page,  either  written 
or  printed.  It  is  not  half  a  century  since  a  distinguished  English 
author,  eminent  both  as  a  statesman  and  as  a  philologist,  pronounced 
the  opinion  that  no  tradition  can  be  trusted  which  is  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  old.  At  the  time  when  this  opinion  was  put  forth  by  Sir 
George  C.  Lewis,  many  voyagers  and  missionaries  in  the  Pacific 
Islands  were  accumulating  traditional  testimony  of  vast  extent  and 
varied  origin,  which  is  now  admitted  on  all  hands  to  prove  the  occur- 
rence of  events  that  must  have  taken  place  at  successive  periods  ex- 
tending over  the  last  two  thousand  years.  The  "  Brief  History  of  the 
Hawaiian  People,"  by  Prof.  W.  D.  Alexander  of  Honolulu,  published 
in  1891  "  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Hawaiian  King- 
dom," recounts  as  unquestionable  facts  many  voyages,  migrations, 
battles,  royal  and  priestly  accessions,  marriages  and  deaths  which 
have  occurred  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  other  groups,  from  the 
eleventh  century  to  our  own  time.  At  the  other  extremity  of  the 
great  ocean,  the  "  Polynesian  Society,"  established  at  Welling-fon, 
New  Zealand,  has  published  in  its  excellent  quailerly  journal  commu- 
nications from  able  contributors  relating  to  various  island  histories, 


266        THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

and  carrying  these  back,  with  the  aid  of  numerous  mutually  confirm- 
atory genealogies,  for  many  centuries,  with  unhesitating  belief  in  their 
general  truth.  In  this  way  the  history  of  the  peopling  of  the  vast 
Polynesian  region,  extending  over  a  space  larger  than  North  America, 
and  covering  at  least  twenty  centuries,  is  gradually  becoming  known 
to  us  as  surely,  if  not  as  minutely,  as  that  of  the  countries  of  Europe 
during  the  same  period. 

The  question  naturally  arises  whether  we  may  not  hope  to  recover 
the  history  of  aboriginal  America  for  at  least  the  same  length  of  time. 
The  facts  now  recorded  will  show  that  the  few  dispersed  members  of ^ 
the  Huron-Iroquois  stock  retain  to  this  day,  after  many  wanderings, 
clear  traditions  of  a  time,  which  cannot  have  been  less  than  four  cen- 
turies ago,  when  their  ancestors  dwelt  on  the  northern  coast  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  Gulf.  The  historical  traditions  of  the  Delawares,  retained 
in  memory  by  their  famous  Picture  Record,  styled  the  Walam  Olutn, 
or  Red  Score,  which  has  been  carefully  published  and  admirably  elu- 
cidated by  Dr.  Brinton  in  his  volume,  "  The  Lenape  and  their  Legends," 
seem  to  go  back  for  more  than  thrice  that  period.  And  the  conclu- 
sions derived  from  these  sources  have  been  lately  confirmed  and  en- 
larged by  a  series  of  important  investigations  relating  to  almost  every 
branch  of  the  fifty-eight  aboriginal  stocks  which  have  been  found  to 
exist  between  Mexico  and  the  Arctic  Ocean.  In  these  studies,  in 
which,  besides  the  names  already  mentioned,  those  of  many  members 
of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  the  Peabody  Museum,  the  Hemenway 
Expedition,  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada  and  its  aftlliated  associations, 
the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  the  American  Folk-lore  Society, 
and  several  Historical  Societies,  have  been  honorably  conspicuous,  we 
have  the  gratifying  earnest  of  future  gains  to  historical  and  ethnolog- 
ical science  which  are  to  be  expected  from  this  source.  We  have  every 
reason  to  feel  assured  that  in  the  three  hundred  Indian  reservations 
and  recognized  bands  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  with  popula- 
tions varying  from  less  than  a  hundred  to  more  than  twenty  thousand, 
and  comprising  now  many  men  and  women  of  good  education  and 
superior  intelligence,  there  are  mines  of  traditional  lore,  ready  to 
yield  returns  of  inestimable  value  to  well-qualitled  and  sympathetic 
explorers. 


*  FOLK-LORE  OF  PRECIOUS  STONES. 

BY   GEORGE   FREDERICK   KUNZ. 

WEARING  and  carrying  charms  is  a  form  of  superstition  which 
undoubtedly  existed  in  the  earliest  times,  originating  with 
primitive  man,  perhaps,  as  soon  as  he  wore  his  first  orna- 
ment, and  the  habit  is  still  persistently  clung  to  by  men  and  women 
who  would  scoff  at  the  idea  that  they  were  at  all  superstitious.  This 
tendency  is  strikingly  shown  by  the  estimation  in  which  is  held  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  gems— the  opal— which  is  often  not 
selected  as  a  gift,  not  perhaps  because  the  giver  really  believes  that  it 
would  bring  ill  luck,  but  certainly  because  he  would  feel  that  his  lack 
of  superstition  might  be  held  answerable  by  others  for  any  harm  that 
should  befall  the  loved  one  to  whom  he  would  give  it.  Yet  the  same 
person  would  offer  as  a  gift  the  moonstone  or  a  natal  stone  to  insure 
to  the  wearer  the  benefits  supposed  to  be  derived  from  their  posses- 
sion. 

The  use  of  the  quaint  amulets  was  well  illustrated  by  the  remark- 
able series  of  charms  consisting  of  arrow-points,  sharks'  and  boars' 
teeth,  and  various  odd  and  curious  things,  used  in  Italy  and  France  for 
many  preceding  centuries,  shown  by  Belucci,  of  Genoa,  at  the  Paris 
Exposition  of  1889. 

Until  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  even  to-day  in 
Italy,  arrow-points  made  by  primeval  man  have  been  known  as  fairy 
darts,  and  worn  as  amulets  or  charms.  The  celts  and  stone  ham- 
mers, strange  to  say,  were  called  pierres  du  foudre,  thunderbolts. 
The  crystals  of  staurolite  that  are  found  in  Brittany  were  believed  to 
have  fallen  from  the  sky,  and  to  them  were  attributed  certain  powers 
to  charm. 

In  early  times,  and  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies, it  was  believed  that  there  was  a  stone  either  in  the  head  or  in 
the  stomach  of  nearly  every  animal.  When  in  the  head,  these  were 
evidently  hard  concretions  of  bone;  when  in  the  stomach  of  herbivo- 
rous animals,  calcareous  concretions,  generally  having  for  a  nucleus 
hair  or  some  other  indigestible  substance.  The  stone  from  the  head 
of  the  dragon  was  called  Draconius;  the  Greeks  and  Romans  called 

207 


268         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

that  from  the  eagle  Aetites;  'that  from  the  kidneys  of  cervicapra,  an 
antelope  of  Arabia,  was  called  Bezoar,  and  was  believed  to  consist  of 
the  poison  of  serpents  and  to  be  a  potent  charm  against  poison,  the 
dragon,  etc., — and  to  all  these  stones  was  ascribed  marvelous  power 
to  charm  and  to  cure.  This  superstition  was  prevalent  in  Asia  as  well 
as  throughout  Europe. 

Much  valuable  and  interesting  information  has  been  drawn  from 
the  folk-lore  and  superstitions  of  the  East  Indians  by  Mohun  Souhindro, 
the  Maharajah  of  Jagore,  in  the  two  volumes  of  his  "  Mani  Mali,"  or 
"  Necklace  of  Gems; "  from  Europe,  by  the  late  Rev.  C.  W.  King,  in 
his  "Engraved  Gems,"  "Antique  Gems,"  "Precious  Stones  and 
Metals,"  etc. ;  and  by  William  Jones,  in  his  "  History  and  Mystery  of 
Precious  Stones,"  "  Finger-Ring  Lore,  Credulities  and  Superstitions,' 
etc.  We  are  informed  also  as  to  the  notions  regarding  precious 
stones  by  many  ancient  writers,  among  others — 

Theophrastus  and  Aristotle,  Greek  philosophers,  of  four  centuries 
before  Christ. 

Pliny,  the  Roman  author  of  the  first  century. 

Avicenna,  the  Arabian  philosopher  of  the  tenth  century. 

Marbodeus,  of  the  eleventh  century. 

Albertus  Magnus,  the  learned  German  Bishop  of  Ratisbon,  in  the 
thirteenth  century. 

Leonardus  Camillus,  an  Italian  physician,  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries. 

Boetius  de  Boot,  the  court  physician  of  August  II.  of  Saxony, 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Thomas  Nichols,  professor  at  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  1650. 

Ernestus  Bruckman,  a  German  physician,  1770,  at  the  court  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  • 

Each  precious  stone  was  supposed  to  have  special  medicinal  pow- 
ers; and  the  pharmacopoeia  of  the  ancients  had,  among  its  most  po- 
tent remedies,  a  very  costly  compound  called  the  "Five  Precious 
Fragments,"  supposed  to  consist  of  powdered  ruby,  topaz,  emerald, 
sapphire  and  hyacinth.  As  their  patients  were  not  likely,  nor  compe- 
tent, to  analyze  the  mixture,  it  may  have  happened  that  the  physi- 
cians pocketed  the  real  gems,  as  well  as  the  fee,  using  other  substances 
in  their  place. 

This  faith  in  the  virtue  of  certain  precious  stones  for  the  cure  of 
diseases  was  held  to  a  comparatively  late  period  and  prevails  some- 
what even  yet. 


FOLK-LORE   OF  PRECIOUS   STONES.  269 

The  earliest  known  objects  made  of  rock-crystal,  hematite,  jasper, 
and  other  materials  deemed  valuable  at  the  time,  are  undoubtedly  the 
curious  rolling  Babylonian  cylinders  on  which  were  engraved  seals 
and  records.  These  date  back  with  a  certainty  to  2800  B.  C,  and 
come  down  to  nearly  the  beginning  of  our  era;  the  conoid  seals,  from 
1000  B.C.  to  after  the  Christian  era.  The  ancient  Egyptians  carved 
out  of  hard  stone  from  over  2000. B.C.  The  use  of  these  as  intag- 
lios reached  their  greatest  perfection  during  the  highest  period  of  art 
in  Greece  and  Rome,  from  about  5  B.C.  to  the  second  century  after 
Christ;  in  Rome,  then -degenerating  in  artistic  spirit,  until  the  fifth 
century  of  our  era,  when  the  Gnostics  and  others  re-engraved  the 
backs  and  frequently  the  faces  of  their  antique  gems  with  their  mystic 
and  often  apparently  meaningless  inscriptions.  After  this  time,  dur- 
ing the  period  of  Venetian  commercial  supremacy,  and  during  the 
Crusades,  the  beads  of  precious  stones  from  the  Orient  were  dissemi- 
nated throughout  Europe.  The  table-cut  stones  date  from  the  four- 
teenth to  the  seventeenth  centuries,  when  the  rose-cut  and  brilliant- 
cut  stones  made  their  appearance,  simultaneously  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  which  superstition  seemed  to  wane.  These  various  forms  of 
cutting  as  well  as  the  savage  forms  will  be  found  in  the  collection  *  ex- 
hibited by  me  for  the  New  York  branch  of  the  American  Folk-Lore 
Society  in  the  Department  of  Ethnology,  which  contains  a  few  of  the 
more  interesting  objects  that  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  obtain, 
and  with  it  a  collection  of  the  more  important  literature  that  has  ap- 
peared since  the  fifteenth  century,  among  which  we  have  editions  of 
Aristotle,  Pliny,  tic. ,  ending  with  what  may  seem  remarkable  at  the 
present  time,  a  prospectus  of  a  work  on  the  medicinal  properties  of 
precious  stones  by  Dr.  de  Lignieres,  of  Nice,  who  has  a  volume  of 
641  pages  in  press  that  will  treat  of  this  subject.  In  this  work  the 
Doctor  seriously  discusses  the  medicinal  virtues  of  various  precious 
stones. 

The  star  sapphire  (asteria)— one  set  in  a  ring  with  Persian 
mounting — was  supposed  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  bring  good 
fortune  to  him  who  wore  it;  called  Slegstein  by  the  Dutch.  It  is  also 
said  to  have  been  good  for  apoplexy.  Captain  Burton,  the  great 
oriental  traveler,  had  a  star  sapphire  which  he  always  carried  with 
him,  and  in  the  heart  of  Arabia,  or  on  the  deserts  of  Africa,  the  sight 
of  the  gem  always  inspired  respect  akin  to  reverence.     It  proved  to 


*  At  the  Columbian  Expojition. 


270         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

him  a  talisman  of  unexampled  power  which  the  people  believed 
would  render  him  all  possible  assistance  in  case  they  incurred  his 
vengeance. 

Cat's-eye,  chrysoberyl;  Ceylon;  used  by  the  natives  as  a  charm 
against  evil  spirits  and  believed  to  bring  good  luck.* 

Moonstone  from  Kandy,  Ceylon;  believed  to  bring  good  fortune 
and  considered  holy.  Never  sold  on  any  other  than  yellow  cloth,  the 
sacred  color.  Supposed  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  be  a  cure  for 
epilepsy  and  also  to  make  trees  fruitful.  Of  special  lunar  attraction. 
It  daily  waxes  and  wanes  according  to  the  moon's  state.  It  was  a 
very  sacred  stone  and  contains  an  image  of  the  moon,  which  grows 
very  clear  upon  fortunate  days  and  occasions  and  the  reverse  under 
evil  influences.  A  stone  of  warning  and  friendship;  cures  epilepsy; 
makes  trees  fruitful.     Called  a  "  sacred"  stone. 

Lodestone;  native  magnet;  bound  with  brass  and  soft  iron  to  pre- 
serve its  strength.  The  property  of  an  European  physician  in  the  fif- 
teenth or  sixteenth  century.  In  the  seventeenth  century  lodestone 
was  used  as  a  remedy  for  headaches,  convulsions,  as  an  antidote  for 
poisons;  supposed  to  produce  love  and  concord,  to  drive  away  fear 
and  render  the  wearer  invisible.  In  the  East  Indies  it  is  said  that  the 
king  should  have  a  seat  of  lodestone  at  his  coronation. 

Lodestone,  a  native  oxide  of  iron  having  magnetic  properties. 
Worn  for  centuries  for  the  power  it  was  supposed  to  possess  and  for 
the  charm  it  was  believed  to  give  the  wearer.  Large  quantities  of  it 
are  found  at  Magnet  Cove,  Arkansas.  It  is  estimated  that  from  one 
to  three  tons  are  sold  annually  to  the  negroes,  to  be  used  by  the  voo- 
doos, who  employ  it  as  a  conjuring  stone.  In  July,  1887,  an  inter- 
esting case  was  tried  in  Macon,  Georgia,  where  a  negro  woman  sued 
a  conjurer  to  recover  five  dollars  which  she  had  paid  him  for  a  piece 
to  serve  as  a  charm  to  bring  back  her  wandering  husband.  As  the 
market  value  of  this  was  only  seventy-five  cents  a  pound,  the  judge 
ordered  the  money  refunded.  A  very  strong  natural  mass  found  at 
Magnet  Cove,  Ark. 

Hydrophane  (magic  stone);  is  quite  remarkable  for  its  power  of 
absorbing  liquid.  When  water  is  allowed  to  drop  slowly  ou  it,  it  first 
becomes  white  and  chalky  and  then  gradually  perfectly  transparent. 
This  property  is  so  strikingly  developed  that  the  finder  has  suggested 


*  See  Notes  on  /llexandrite,  y4qua  Marine  and  Chrysoberyl,  Trans.  N.  Y.  Acad 
of  Sciences,  Vol.  V.,  No.  6. 


FOLK-LORE   OF   PRECIOUS   STONES.  271 

its  use  in  rings,  lockets,  charms,  etc.,  to  conceal  photographs,  hair, 
or  other  objects  which  the  wearer  wishes  to  reveal  only  when  his 
caprice  dictates;  evidently  the  Occults  Mundi  of  the  gem  writers  of 
the  fifteenth  to  eighteenth  century.* 

Tabasheer,  a  vegetable  opal  that  forms  in  the  joints  of  the  bam- 
boo; purchased  at  the  bazaar  held  in  Calcutta,  Hindostan,  1888;  used 
in  India  for  medicinal  properties  and  suggested  by  the  exhibitor, 
George  F.  Kunz,  to  have  been  the  snake  stone  mentioned  by  Taver- 
nier  as  possessing  the  power  of  neutralizing  the  poison  of  the  cobra 
di  capello. 

Floating  stones,  found  in  a  branch  of  Mann  Creek,  a  tributary  of 
the  Weiser  River,  which  flows  into  it  near  its  confluence  with  the  Snake 
River  in  Idaho.  The  so-called  floating  stones  are  hollow  quartz 
geodes,  with  a  shell  so  thin  that  the  air  in  the  cavity  more  than  makes 
up  for  the  specific  gravity  of  the  quartz. 

Madstone  (aluminous  shale)  from  Western  North  Carolina;  one 
of  many  made  of  similar  material.  They  were  formerly  and  are  still 
believed  to  possess  the  power  of  drawing  poison  out  of  wounds  pro- 
duced by  the  bite  of  a  dog  or  the  sting  of  a  snake. 

Eye-agate;  natural  color;  from  Persia;  one  pear-shaped  stone  2^ 
inches;  one  round,  thick  piece;  one  a  double  eye  set;  called  Aleppo 
stone,  because  believed  to  be  etficacious  in  driving  away  Aleppo  sores, 
ugly  sores  which  form  on  the  nose  and  face;  from  Aleppo,  Persia. 

Moss-agate;  gray  green  with  black  and  brown  markings;  from 
Babylon;  set  in  silver;  ring. 

Rainbow  agate  (Chalcedonix) ;  when  this  is  held  perpendicularly 
and  a  fixed  light  is  viewed  through  the  stone,  it  shows  a  rainbow-like 
color. 

Amber.  The  tears  of  Electrides;  of  great  electric  and  medicinal 
value  when  worn  in  beads  about  the  neck  and  pulse;  cures  sore  throat, 
ague;  charms  away  insanity,  the  asthma,  dropsy,  tooth-ache;  and 
drives  away  snakes.  A  specific  against  deafness;  good  for  the  eye- 
sight when  ground  up  with  honey.  Oil  of  amber,  or  amber  dissolved 
in  spirits  of  wine,  soothes  and  allays  pain;  also  supposed  to  be  the 
tears  of  birds  of  Meleagrides,  who  weep  for  their  brother  Meleager; 
said  to  be  a  concentration  of  birds'  tears. 

"Around  thee  shall  glisten  the  loveliest  amber 
That  ever  the  sorrowing  sea-bird  hath  wept."— Afoor^. 


*  Sec  descriptions  by  George  F.  Yiunz,  American  Jounial  of  Science,  3d  series, 
Vol.  XXVIII.,  December.  1887;  and  Science,  Vol.  XVIII.,  No.  459. 


272         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

String  of  sixty-one  amber  beads,  with  silver  clasp  (very  old), 
worn  by  a  peasant  in  Northern  Prussia.  Evidently  given  as  a  wed- 
ding present  and  worn  for  centuries.  The  string  indicates  having 
been  worn  for  some  time. 

Amber  beads,  over  one  inch  in  diameter,  (very  old),  crudely  cut 
and  faceted.  Original  made  in  Konigsberg,  Prussia.  Worn  by  a 
chief  in  Northern  Africa. 

Amber  charm;  oval;  drilled;  carved  in  intaglio  and  leaves;  Italian; 
eighteenth  century;  worn  as  a  charm. 

Amber  ornament  containing  fragment  of  a  leaf;  carved;  quaint 
leaf-like  form;  from  Japan. 

Staurolite  (cross-stone);  Fannin  County,  Georgia;  worn  in  Brit- 
tany, France,  as  a  charm.  The  local  legends  state  that  the  stone 
dropped  from  the  heavens. 

Chiastolite  (made);  Lancaster,  Mass.;  worn  in  Switzerland  for 
the  charm  the  cross-like  marking  is  supposed  to  bring  the  wearer. 

Flint  nodule;  broken  open;  each  side  alike;  from  the  coast  of 
Brittany;  containing  a  staining  resembling  a  shrouded  figure;  worn  as 
charms  in  the  eighteenth  century  and  known  as  portrait  stones. 

Amulet  of  fossil  shark's  tooth;  mounted  in  silver;  found  in  exca- 
vations at  Salzburg,  Austria;  seventeenth  century. 

Two  arrow-points;  from  Northern  France;  called  "fairy  darts" 
in  the  sixteenth  to  eighteenth  century. 

Celt;  Brittany,  France;  called  pierre  du  foudre,  or  thunderbolt. 

Meteorite;  mounted  as  a  charm;  said  by  an  ancient  writer  to 
"  preserve  the  wearer  from  all  harm,  even  though  he  be  surrounded 
by  enemies." 

Jade;  human  tooth  inlaid  with  lettuce-green  jadeite;  found  by 
Mrs.  Mary  Robinson  Wright  with  three  other  teeth  similarly  inlaid,  in 
a  tomb  four  feet  in  depth,  in  Tacamaca,  near  Gualajaia,  State  of 

Jalisco. 

Jade;  small  fragment  taken  from  the  tomb  of  Tamerlane  at  Sa- 
markand, Central  Asia.  The  vandal  who  broke  this  otf  left  the  bal- 
ance for  some  enterprising  English  or  American  collector. 

Earring  of  jade  (Oceanic  variety)  from  New  Zealand;  made  at 
Oberstein  to  imitate  the  earrings  worn  by  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand. 

Jadeite;  two  beads;  one  circular  cup-shaped  ornament,  drilled  and 
with  circular  hole  in  the  bottom;  one  small  fragment  of  a  celt  show- 
ing former  drilling;  from  Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico. 

Jade  (and  jadeite);  was  worn  in  the  fifteenth  century  and  later  as 


FOLK-LORE   OF  PRECIOUS   STONES.  273 

a  cure  for  kidney  disease;  hence  its  name,  Spanish  hijada  and  Greek 
nephros. 

Jadeite  ornament;  one-quarter  of  a  celt  which  had  been  previously 
decorated ;  drilled  on  one  side  to  be  worn  as  a  pendant ;  Valley  of 
Mexico,  Mexico, 

Jade;  East  Indian;  pipe  top;  originally  set  with  jewels;  found  in 
Persia;  evidently  brought  to  Persia  in  the  loot  of  India  by  Nadir  Shah. 

A  cast  of  the  Kunz  votive  adze  now  in  the  Kunz  collection  in  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York,  N.  Y.  This  object, 
weighing  nearly  sixteen  pounds,  was  found  in  Oxaca,  Mexico,  and  is 
believed  to  be  the  largest  known  aboriginal  object  made  of  jadeite. 
Two  fragments  have  been  cut  from  the  back  in  prehistoric  times  for 
the  purpose  of  extending  the  material.  (See  article  on  jadeite 
celt.) 

Chloromelanite  pendant;  originally  a  whole  celt  of  which  this  is 
only  about  one-half;  part  of  the  decoration  still  visible;  Valley  of 
Mexico,  Mexico. 

Cabot  stones  from  the  head  of  the  fresh-water  "sheepshead,"  a 
fish  allied  to  the  drumtish,  the  stones  from  the  head  of  which  were 
known  by  the  name  of  "cabot,"  and  were  said  to  prophesy  storms 
when  cloudy,  and  favorable  weather  when  bright  and  shiny.  Usually 
found  in  pairs,  peculiarly  marked.  A  lucky  stone.  Presented  to  the 
author  by  Eugene  Blackford  of  New  York. 

Eye-stones  or  ophthalme;  are  taken  from  the  crawfish  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  They  have  been  used  from  time  immemorial  for 
removing  dust  or  other  particles  from  the  eye, 

Aetites;  a  stone  found  in  the  nest  of  the  eagle;  eagle-stone;  be- 
lieved to  give  the  strength  of  the  eagle;  fruitfulness;  was  greatly  valued 
when  genuine.  When  it  was  scarlet  in  color  it  rendered  its  owner 
rich  and  amiable  and  preserved  him  from  all  casualties. 

Amber  amulet;  very  ancient;  decrepitated  through  age;  found  in  a 
cave  on  the  Baltic  coast. 

Amber  ornament;  pierced  from  both  sides  and  ornamented;  very 
old;  from  Northern  Africa. 

Alectorius;  a  quartz  pebble  taken  from  the  gizzard  of  a  fowl; 
sacred  to  athletes;  a  stone  of  this  kind  is  said  to  have  been  worn  by 
Milo  the  wrestler. 

Beza  or  bezor  stone;  taken  from  the  kidneys  of  the  Cervicabra, 
wild  Arabian  deer,  A  potent  charm  against  poisons  and  plagues; 
good  for  gout;  in  great  repute  among  the  ancients,  bringing  fabulous 


274         THE    INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

prices  in  India  and  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I.     It  was  be- 
lieved that  it  must  be  set  in  silver. 

Cockstone;  a  crystal  about  the  size  of  a  bean;  extracted  from  a 
cock;  renders  the  possessor  invisible  and  prevents  thirst. 

Coral  hand;  was  supposed  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  show  by 
its  change  of  color  the  approach  of  disease;  was  also  worn  as  an  am- 
ulet for  protection  against  enchantments,  poisons,  thunder,  tempests, 
etc.  In  the  East  Indies  the  deep  red  coral  was  supposed  to  bring  pros- 
perity to  its  owner. 

Coral;  small  branch  with  two  small  bands;  Naples,  Italy.  Worn 
to  ward  oflf  the  evil  eye;  also  believed  to  possess  great  phallic  power. 

Coral  bead;  very  rude;  west  coast  of  Africa. 

Pendant  made  of  rich  blue  lapis-laiuli;  drilled  at  the  side;  Tur- 
kestan, Asia. 

Malachite;  used  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  protect  children 
from  danger  and  disease;  also  as  an  amulet  to  shield  the  wearer  from 
the  attacks  of  evil  spirits. 

Four  carved  steatite  talismans;  three  green  with  emblematic 
inscriptions;  Persian;  modern. 

Milargro  (miracle);  made  of  silver;  used  in  Peru  by  the  poor, 
who  wear  them  on  the  affected  part  to  cure  or  to  ward  off  disease. 
(E.  E.  Olcott,  Lima,  Peru.) 

Jet  carving;  old  Mexican;  reproduction  of  a  Spanish  caravel. 

Sioux  peace  pipe  of  catlinite  from  Pipestone  County,  Minnesota. 

Six  pendants  made  of  argonitel;  used  as  charms  by  the  Santa 
Domingo  Pueblo  Indians,  of  New  Mexico. 

Selenite;  cleavage  5x3  inches;  used  as  a  window  in  a  pueblo  of 
the  Santo  Domingo  Indian  Reservation,  New  Mexico;  taken  out  by 
George  F.  Kunz,  August  4, 1890. 

Arrow-points;  rock  crystal;  from  Waynesville,  Georgia, 

Arrow-points;    rock  crystal;    from   Alexander  County,   North 

Carolina. 

Gold  bead;  pre-Columbian;  from  Orlando,  Florida. 

Two  ornaments;  one  hemispherical;  the  other  drilled;  made  of 
barite;  found  in  Indian  mounds  near  Lexington,  Kentucky. 

Arrow-points;  obsidian,  agate,  and  opalized  and  yellow  agatized 
wood;  from  Oregon  City,  Willamette  River,  Oregon. 

Shells  of  Anadon  containing  small  figures  of  Buddha  and  a  string 
of  beads,  all  of  which  have  been  inserted  between  the  shell  and  the 
mantle  of  the  mollusk  by  priests  in  Central  China,  who  introduce 


FOLK-LORE  OF  PRECIOUS  STONES.  275 

these  objects  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  their  power  in  oppressing 
the  laity. 

Pearls  taken  from  the  altar  of  Till  Porter  Mound,  Little  Miami 
Valley,  Ohio,  by  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam.  These  pearls  were  orig- 
inally taken  from  fresh-water  mussels  (Unios)  of  the  Miami  and  ad- 
jacent rivers,  were  drilled  and  worn  as  ornaments  and  were  evidently 
thrown  at  the  time  into  the  fire  on  the  altar  of  the  mound,  in  com- 
memoration of  some  great  event. 

Mummy  eye;  an  eye  taken  from  the  eye  of  a  mummy  at  Cusco, 
Peru;  originally  the  eye  of  the  giant  cuttlefish  {loligo gigas);  taken 
from  the  fish  by  the  ancient  Peruvians  and  put  in  the  eyes  of  their 
mummies,  as  they  were  more  durable.  (See  Trans.  N.  Y.  [Micro- 
scopical Soc,  October  2,  1885.) 

Abalona  shells;  two  oval  drilled  pendants  from  the  Indians  of 
Santo  Domingo  pueblo,  New  Mexico.  The  abalona  shell  ( /;fl//o//5 )  is 
used  for  ornaments  and  for  decoration  in  the  form  of  inlays  by  the 
Indians  of  the  entire  western  coast  from  Alaska  to  California,  includ- 
ing the  outlying  islands. 

Carbuncle,  The  third  stone  in  the  high  priest's  breast-plate;  en- 
graved Zebulum.  Sacred  to  Angel  Amriel;  light;  endowment;  guid- 
ance; martyrdom;  Passion  of  the  Savior;  zodiacal  sign;  constellation. 
Called  Osculan  and  Chrysolampis.  Believed  to  be  the  ancient  name 
for  garnet  (Dana).  The  Sixth  Heaven  is  composed  of  it,  according 
to  the  Koran.  Dragons'  eyes  were  of  carbuncle;  had  a  special  virtue 
by  which  it  emits  a  wonderful  light  which  will  light  a  room  at  night. 

String  of  sixty  rude  garnet  beads  without  any  fastening;  drilled 
from  both  sides;  from  ancient  Bohemian  graves. 

Button ;  small  ornament  made  of  bronze  containing  an  encabochon ; 
rose-colored  tourmaline  (Rubellite),  from  the  State  of  Mainboung, 
China;  set  in  a  metal  border  of  blue  feathers  from  the  kingfisher  bird. 
The  red  tourmaline  is  called  oxi  by  the  Chinese  and  is  greatly 
esteemed  for  the  properties  which  it  is  supposed  to  possess. 

Rock  crystal  amulet;  mounted  in  silver;  engraved  with  the  arms 
and  once  the  property  of  Count  von  Walstein,  Archbishop  of 
Prague,  Bohemia,  1683. 

Rock  crystal  amulet;  mounted  in  silver;  engraved  with  the  arms 
and  once  the  property  of  Count  Eggenberg,  Duke  of  Bohmisch 
Krumlow,  Bohemia;  seventeenth  century. 

Two  tablet-shaped  rock  crystal  seals  with  inscriptions;  early  Per- 
sian. 


276        THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Rock  crystal  encahochon  with  inscription;  early  Persian. 

Rock  crystal  ornament;  cone-shaped;  drilled;  fastened  to  a  cylin- 
drical jadeite  bead;  originally  used  as  a  pendant  from  a  necklace. 
Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico. 

Rock  crystal  labret  (lip  ornament) ;  made  of  rock  crystal  with 
metallic  (silver)  border  at  lower  end  for  the  shield;  Valley  of  Mexico, 
Mexico. 

Rock  crystal  ball;  from  a  grave  in  ancient  Brittany;  used  for  divi- 
nation in  the  middle  ages. 

Rock  crystal  ball;  Japan. 

Rock  crystal  was  used  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  a  remedy 
for  gout,  swoons  and  headaches.  In  the  East  Indies  it  is  supposed  to 
secure  the  wearer  against  the  attacks  of  thieves  and  wild  beasts,  and  as 
an  antidote  to  poisons.  In  Europe  it  was  believed  to  protect  the 
sleeper  from  bad  dreams,  to  dissolve  witchcraft  and  spells.  It  was 
used  in  divination,  as  a  hypnotic  stone,  and  to  induce  mesmerism; 
was  much  used  by  the  old  astrologers,  who  believed  in  it;  sacred  to 
Diana,  Luna,  etc. 

Rock  crystal  ball,  used  in  divination  by  sightseers  and  others, 
notably  by  Dr.  Dee  and  others  of  his  time;  apparently  in  early  times, 
as  such  balls  have  been  found  in  old  graves  in  Brittany  and  England. 

Obsidian  chipped  ornament;  semi-circular;  crescent-shaped;  three 
inches  in  length;  drilled  at  both  ends;  from  Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico. 

Two  ear  ornaments;  obsidian;  circular;  partly  finished;  from  the 
Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico. 

Ornament  of  obsidian;  duck's  head  with  flat  bill;  carved;  drilled; 
to  be  used  as  a  pendant,  with  small  hemispherical  discs  of  rock  crystal 
for  the  eyes;  from  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico. 

Unfinished  ear  ornament;  obsidian;  from  Valley  of  Bravo  ve 
Temaxcaltepec,  State  of  Mexico. 

Labrets;  Aztec  lip  ornaments,  made  of  obsidian;  from  the  Valley 
of  Mexico. 

Arrow  points  of  obsidian  and  chalcedony;  worn  drilled;  to  be 
suspended  as  ornaments.  Two  with  original  thongs  to  hold  them  to- 
gether.   Worn  as  fetiches  by  the  Isleta  Indians,  New  Mexico. 

Lava  dishes  containing  small  fragments  of  chalcedony,  turquoise, 
obsidian,  etc. ,  as  they  are  offered  for  sale  by  the  Indians  of  the  Santo 
Domingo  pueblo.  New  Mexico. 

Silver  charm  ring  containing  turquoise  set  in  copper.  This  ring 
was  made  by  the  Navajo  Indians. 


FOLK-LORE  OF  PRECIOUS  STONES.  277 

Turquoise  amulet,  large  flat,  mill-drilled;  used  as  a  charm  by  the 
Indians  of  the  Santo  Domingo  pueblo,  near  Wallace,  New  Mexico; 
obtained  near  Los  Cerrillos. 

Turquoise  earrings;  turquoise  beads  on  silver  wires;  from  the 
pueblo  of  San  Domingo,  near  Wallace,  New  Mexico. 

String  of  beads  and  a  small  animal  fetich,  made  of  marine  shells, 
to  which  are  attached  drilled  ornaments  of  turquoise  and  steatite  from 
an  ancient  Zuni  grave  near  Tempe,  Arizona. 

Persian  turquoise  talismans  and  ring,  with  inscriptions  from  the 
Koran. 

Fetich  from  pueblo  of  Santo  Domingo,  New  Mexico;  prairie  dog; 
made  of  gypsum  with  eyes  of  turquoise;  used  by  the  medicine  men 
of  the  Pueblo  Indians  in  their  ceremonies  to  induce  rain. 

Twenty-one  rolling  Babylonian  cylinders  made  of  hematite,  ser- 
pentine, calcite,  basalt  and  other  stones,  dating  from  2000  B.C.  to 
500  B.C. ;  found  at  Bagdad,  Persia. 

Two  hematite  hemispherical  drilled  seals  carved  with  difTerent 
devices;  Sassanian;  300  to  400  A.D.;  found  at  Bagdad,  Persia. 

Two  bloodstone  hemispherical  drilled  seals  carved  with  different 
devices;  Sassanian;  300  to  400  A.D. 

Ten  hemispherical  drilled  seals  made  of  red  and  brown  sard, 
carnelian,  banded  agate  and  chalcedony;  300  to  400  A.D. 

Two  hemispherical  drilled  seals;  one  Parthian,  made  of  gray 
chalcedony,  and  one  with  the  device  of  the  humped  bull;  300  to  500 
A.D. 

Agate  cone-shaped  seal;  Pehlevic  inscription;  about  500  A.D. ; 
found  near  Bagdad,  Persia.  The  original  color  of  this  agate  has  been 
changed  to  an  opaque  white  by  having  passed  through  a  contlagra- 
tion. 

Cone-shaped  seal  of  brown  and  white  banded  agate;  Parthian. 

Carnelian;  old  Persian  intaglio;  Parthian;  300  to  500  A.D. 

Assyrian  cone-shaped  seal ;  blue  chalcedony  (sapphirine ) ;  400  B.C. 

Assyrian  cone  seal  of  red  ferruginous  quartz;  400  B.C. 

Seven  engraved  almandite  garnets;  three  mounted  as  rings,  intag- 
lios; Persian;  Parthian;  300  to  500  A.D. 

Twenty-eight  sard  and  carnelian  intaglios;  Roman;  3 00  to  400 
A.D.;  one  with  figure  of  Fortuna;  stone  has  a  white  patina;  found  at 
Bagdad,  Persia. 

One  gray  chalcedony  with  Persian  Parthian  intaglio;  three  heads; 
from  300  to  500  A.D. 


278        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Two  amethyst  encahochon  intaglios;  300  to  400  A.D. 

Onyx;  Oberstein,  Germany;  stained  to  imitate  the  ancient  East 
Indian  onyx;  two  oval  stones  showing  two  layers  of  black  and  one  of 
white. 

Ceragate;  one  polished  square;  yellowish  tint. 

Carnelian;  oval  encahochon  stone;  East  Indies. 

Three  oval  sardonyx  stones,  regarded  in  the  seventeenth  century 
as  symbolizing,  in  its  name,  the  reconciliation  of  the  law  and  the  gos- 
pel, the  onyx  having  been  in  the  breast-plate  of  judgment,  and  sard  in 
the  foundations  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

Three  oval  pieces  of  sard;  seventeenth  century;  in  the  seventeenth 
century  was  supposed  to  render  the  wearer  proof  against  witchcraft 
and  to  make  him  cheerful  and  fearless. 

Two  chalcedony  seals  engraved  with  Persian  inscriptions.  One: 
"  In  the  name  of  God,  the  most  merciful.  Say!  God  is  one,  God 
is  omnipotent.  He  does  not  beget  nor  is  begotten;  nor  has  he  any 
equal ;  not  even  one  Ali !  Oh,  Ali!"  Center  inscription:  "Victory 
from  God  and  soon  opening." 

Three  Persian  seals;  sixteenth  to  eighteenth  centuries;  made  of 
red  sard,  brownish  jasper  and  a  black  agate, 

Persian  seals,  made  of  chalcedony  and  jasper — not  ancient.  In 
Persia,  to  every  contract  is  af!ixed  a  seal.  Nowhere  is  the  use  of  seals 
so  universal  as  in  Persia,  and  every  mule-driver  or  other  person  who 
cannot  write  carries  a  seal. 

Eight  Persian  seals  of  brass,  iron  and  copper;  from  the  tenth  to 
the  fifteenth  century. 

Persian  lapis-lazuli  intaglio  with  Persian  inscription;  found  at 
Bagdad,  Persia. 

Rich  red  sard  seals  with  Arabic  inscription;  nineteenth  century. 

Rude  garnet  sard  seal  with  Arabic  inscription;  nineteenth  century. 

Seven  Persian  seals;  fourteenth  to  fifteenth  century;  found  in 
Bagdad,  Persia. 

Sardonyx,  banded  agate;  three  chalcedony  and  one  carnelian. 

Chalcedony;  was  supposed  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  be  a  pro- 
tection against  evil  spirits,  to  banish  melancholy  and  to  procure  suc- 
cess for  the  wearer. 

Small  charms  made  of  red  and  white  carnelian,  agate,  etc.,  in 
the  form  of  rude  arrows;  drilled  at  the  barb  end;  originally  worn  as 
charms;  found  in  an  ancient  Assyrian  grave.  Similar  to  those  in  the 
Assyrian  gallery  in  the  Louvre. 


FOLK-LORE  OF  PRECIOUS  STONES.  279 

Chalcedony  cameo;  Roman;  300  to  400;  found  in  Persia. 

Section  of  a  chalcedony  conoid  seal;  engraved  encabochon; 
Roman;  300  to  400  A.D. ;  found  in  Persia. 

Section  of  a  hexagonal  bead;  engraved  with  an  intaglio;  the 
drill  hole  of  the  bead  is  visible  all  along  the  back;  section  of  a  bead. 

String  of  five  charms  made  of  carnelian  and  silver;  worn  as  a 
charm  in  Bohemia  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Banded  agate;  six;  two  beads,  one  talisman,  two  oval  stones  and 
one  flat  section;  from  Persia. 

Chalcedony;  three  pieces;  worn  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  a 
protection  against  the  evil  spirits,  to  banish  melancholy,  and  to  pro- 
cure success  for  the  wearer. 

Two  rings  made  of  carnelian  with  heart-shaped  shield  on  top; 
worn  in  Germany  and  Southern  Europe  as  love  rings. 

Coral  anchor,  cross  and  heart  made  at  Oberstein,  Germany; 
carnelian;  worn  as  charms  in  Italy  and  throughout  Southern  Europe. 

Rings  made  of  carnelian;  ornamented  with  triangular  facets; 
made  in  Oberstein,  Germany,  and  worn  in  Italy  as  charms. 

Heliotrope;  was  supposed  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  procure 
riches  and  fame  for  the  owner.  It  was  also  regarded  as  a  cure  for  the 
bites  of  poisonous  reptiles  and  for  hemorrhages. 

Twenty-four  cone-shaped  pieces  of  sard  from  two  to  four  inches 
long;  drilled  with  an  aperture  large  enough  for  the  finger;  heart- 
shaped,  amulet-shaped  and  bead-shaped  objects  of  carnelian,  chalce- 
dony and  sard;  made  for  the  Tripoli  market,  where  they  are  resold  for 
the  interior  African  trade.  They  are  generally  white  and  red— so- 
called  tower  rings.  Those  from  two  to  four  inches  or  more  in  length 
are  most  salable;  the  greatest  demand  is  for  light  red. 

For  the  Senegal  trade  they  are  generally  tower  rings,  six-sided 
beads,  generally  from  one  and  one-half  to  two  and  one-half  inches  in 
length;  rings  with  a  square,  castle-like  protuberance,  heart-shaped, 
diamond-shaped,  triangular,  round  and  bead-shaped  objects,  all  of 
which  are  drilled;  made  of  sard,  carnelian,  chalcedony,  seragate  and 
chrysoprase. 

For  the  Cairo  market,  where  they  are  resold  to  traders  who  sell 
them  in  the  Soudan,  they  are  generally  banded  agate  and  onyx,  striped 
brown  and  black  in  the  form  of  leaf-shaped  beads,  tower  rings  and 
small,  elongated,  oval  amulets.  These  articles  for  the  African  trade 
are  all  manufactured  at  Oberstein,  on  the  Nahe,  Germany,  where 
they  are  especially  manufactured  for  exportation  to  Africa,  the  prin- 


280        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

cipal  points  being  Tripoli,  Senegal  and  Egypt,  where  they  are  sold  to 
the  tribes  in  the  interior.  The  demand  for  each  locality  is  for 
the  special  patterns  which  are  made  for  each  country.  Since  the  trade 
commenced  the  natives  will  only  buy  those  patterns  which  are  espe- 
cially manufactured  for  them,  never  caring  for  any  patterns  that  are 
sold  to  the  other  sections. 

Dog's  head  charm  made  of  banded  white  and  brown  agate  with 
a  rich  green  staining  at  the  mouth;  found  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico, 
Mexico. 

Charms;  rattles  of  rattlesnake;  made  of  red  and  brown  obsidian; 
found  in  Jalisco,  Mexico. 

Touchstone;  (basanite)  black  jasper;  European  jewelers' touch- 
stone of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  dark  color  of  this  material  ren- 
dered it  excellent  to  compare  the  various  colors  of  gold. 

Egyptian  jasper;  valued  in  the  eighteenth  century  for  the  fancied 
resemblance  to  human  faces  which  it  contains. 

Agate;  used  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  an  antidote  to  poison 
and  a  preventive  of  contagion;  supposed  in  the  East  Indies  to  cure  in- 
sanity and  also  to  soften  the  anger  of  the  wearer. 

Two  oblong  pieces  of  jasper,  one  green  and  one  brown;  was  used 
in  the  seventeenth  century  as  a  cure  for  diseases  of  the  stomach,  epi- 
lepsy, and  one  variety  was  supposed  to  protect  the  wearer  from 
drowning. 

Carnelian;  supposed  in  the  East  Indies  to  insure  wealth  to  the 

wearer. 

Charm;  small  bivalve-shell-shaped  object  with  small  protruding 
point;  drilled;  to  be  used  as  ornament;  made  of  red  and  black  jasper 
from  Jalisco;  found  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico. 

Charm;  a  brown,  drop-shaped  pendant;  drilled  at  one  end;  made 
of  yellowish-brown  chalcedony. 

Aztec  heart-shaped  pendant  made  of  bloodstone  (green  jasper 
with  red  spots);  used  by  the  Aztecs  in  Spain  in  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  to  staunch  the  flow  of  blood  from  wounds. 

Bloodstone  pendant;  heliotrope;  pear-shaped;  from  the  Valley  of 

Mexico,  Mexico. 

In  regard  to  a  communication  by  water  that  was  believed  to  exist 
between  Asia  and  America,  we  have  yet  to  find  a  single  conclusive 
evidence  that  such  a  traffic  existed.  There  is  not  a  single  object  of 
silk,  of  carved  ivory,  of  gold  or  silver  work,  enamel  work,  or  por- 
celain, of  Burmese  or  other  Oriental  woods,  nor  a  single  diamond, 


FOLK-LORE   OF  PRECIOUS  STONES.  281 

sapphire,  zircon,  chrysoberyl,  alexandrite,  or  jeweled  jade  or  jadeite, 
that  can  be  attributed  to  an  Asiatic  contact,  or  of  which  we  can  posi- 
tively aifirm  a  Siamese  or  Burmese  or  Chinese  or  Japanese  source,  or 
say  that  this  or  that  is  a  Ceylonese,  a  Burmese  or  a  Cashmere  gem. 
Yet  nearly  all  these  objects  have  been  worked  in  peculiar  forms  since 
time  immemorial  in  the  oriental  countries,  with  such  marked  carving 
of  lettering  or  symbols  as  to  render  them  unmistakable  as  having  been 
made  in  particular  oriental  countries;  while  on  the  other  hand  there  is 
scarcely  an  object  of  Spanish  contact,  such  as  Venetian  beads,  iron- 
worked  buttons  and  other  objects,  that  has  not  at  one  time  or  another 
been  found  in  graves,  often  in  apparent  primeval  forests.  Jade  we 
have  not  yet  traced  to  its  finding-place,  but  we  surely  will.  Turquoise, 
which  three  centuries  ago  was  only  known  in  one  locality,  we  find 
now  may  have  been  mined  at  half  a  dozen  places. 


THE    COYOTE    AND    THE    OWL. 

{Tales  of  the  Kootenay  Indians). 

BY   A.   F.    CHAMBERLAIN. 

THE  owl  (^kupi)  figures  prominently  in  Kootenay  folk-lore  as  the 
bogey  with  which  children  are  scared.  "  Keep  quiet  or  the 
owl  will  come  for  you,"  is  the  threat  used  to  silence  noisy  or 
crying  children,  it  is  the  cunning  coyote  (skinkuts)  who  finally 
circumvents  the  owl  and  restores  the  children  to  their  parents,  by 
changing  himself  into  a  child,  being  taken  away  by  the  owl  in  her 
basket  {nahek)  to  her  lodge,  and  killing  her  after  tricking  her.  The 
owl  is  represented  as  a  cruel  old  woman,  with  a  basket  at  her  back, 
or  in  her  hand — the  basket  or  kettle  is  sometimes  said  to  be  made  of 
water-snakes  {aqkinutlam) — who,  when  she  reached  home  used  to 
take  the  children  out  of  the  basket  one  by  one,  and  make  them 
dance  around  her.  But  one  day  the  coyote  (in  guise  of  a  child)  man- 
aged to  kill  her,  and  from  her  ashes  were  born  mosquitoes  and  other 
like  insects. 

The  first  published  version  of  the  story  is  that  of  the  Rev. 
E.  F.  Wilson  in  "Our  Forest  Children,"  Vol.  111.  (1890),  p.  166. 
It  is  attributed  to  the  Upper  Kootenays  and  is  localized — unlike  the 
other  variants — "on  the  banks  of  the  Eraser  River,"  quite  beyond 
the  habitat  of  the  Kootenays.     Wilson's  version  runs: 

"Once  upon  a  time,  there  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Eraser 
River  a  bad  woman,  who  caught  young  children  and  ate  them,  and 
carried  them  in  a  basket  woven  of  water-snakes.  One  day  she 
caught  a  number  of  little  children  and  carried  them  back  into  the 
bush  in  her  basket.  The  children  peeped  out  of  the  basket  and  saw 
her  digging  a  pit  and  making  stones  hot  in  the  fire,  and  they  knew 
that  she  was  going  to  cook  them  as  the  Indians  cook  their  meat,  and 
so  they  plotted  together  what  they  would  do.  By  and  by  the  old 
hag  came  to  the  basket  and  lifted  them  out  one  by  one,  and  told 
them  to  dance  around  her  on  the  grass,  and  she  began  putting  some- 
thing on  their  eyes  so  that  they  could  not  open  them;  but  the  elder 
ones  watched  their  opportunity,  and  while  she  was  putting  the  hot 
stones  into  the  pit  they  all  rushed  forward  and  toppled  her  over,  and 
piled  the  fire  into  the  pit  on  the  top  of  her  till  she  was  burned  to 

282 


THE   COYOTE   AND  THE   OWL.  283 

ashes.  But  her  evil  spirit  lived  after  her,  for  out  of  her  ashes,  blown 
about  by  the  wind,  sprang  the  dreadful  pest  of  mosquitoes." 

For  similar  legends  accounting  for  the  origin  of  mosquitoes,  flies, 
etc.,  see  the  article  "  Sagen  vom  Ursprung  der  Fliegen  und  Moskiten," 
in  Am  Ur- Quell,  IV.  Bd.,  1893,  S.  129-13 1.  In  a  tale  of  the 
Kwakiutl  of  Ft.  Rupert,  recorded  by  Dr.  F.  Boas  {Joiirn.  Amer. 
Folk-Lore,  I.,  1888,  p.  55),  mosquitoes  arise  from  the  ashes  of  a  fat 
cannibal  and  his  wife,  who  are  caused  to  fall  into  a  fire-pit  by  some 
children,  and  a  variant  of  the  same  legend  is  also  given  by  him. 

The  versions  of  the  coyote-owl  story  which  follow  were 
obtained  in  the  summer  of  1891,  by  the  present  writer,  from  Indians 
in  various  parts  of  the  Kootenay  region,  who  dictated  them  in  their 
native  speech. 

{a.)  COYOTE   AND  OWL. 

(Told  in  the  Upper  Kootenay  Dialect  by  Michel,  an  Indian  of  the 
Tobacco  Plains,  Sept.  13,  l89l.)     ^ 

The  owl  stays  at  a  distance  from  the  village.  The  child  cries. 
Its  mother  says:  Stop  crying  or  the  owl  will  get  you.  The  owl 
comes  at  night  to  take  children  away  in  a  basket — she  takes  away 
many  children.  One  day  the  coyote  said:  1  will  do  it.  I  will  be- 
come a  child.  So  the  coyote  changed  himself  into  a  little  child. 
At  night  he  begins  to  cry,  and  he  is  given  to  the  owl,  who  makes  oflf 
with  him.  They  go  to  the  owl's  lodge,  where  there  are  many  chil- 
dren. At  night  the  coyote  says:  To-morrow  you  must  get  some 
pitch.  The  next  day  they  get  some  pitch.  At  night  there  is  dancing. 
First  the  owl  begins  to  dance,  and  continues  until  she  sweats  much. 
The  coyote  says:  Stop,  1  want  to  speak  to  you.  The  coyote  melts 
the  pitch  in  a  hot  fire.  Then  he  says  to  the  owl:  Stop  a  while.  He 
daubs  the  owl's  eyes  with  pitch,  so  that  she  cannot  see.  He  then 
seizes  her  and  throws  her  into  the  fire,  where  she  is  burnt  up.  From 
her  ashes  come  forth  a  multitude  of  little  insects  [mosquitoes.?]. 

{b.)   COYOTE   AND  OWL. 

(Told  in  the  Upper  Kootenay  Dialect  by  Paul,  an  Indian  of  the 
Tobacco  Plains,  Sept.  12,  l89t.) 

A  child  in  the  village  begins  to  cry.  Some  one  says:  Stop  cry- 
ing or  the  owl  will  take  you  away.  But  the  child  continues  to  cry, 
and  is  taken  away  by  the  owl  in  her  basket  (or  kettle).  By  and  by 
there  are  no  children  left  in  the  village.     Then  the  coyote  says:  I  am 


284         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

going  to  cry  at  night.  He  cries,  and  is  told  to  be  quiet,  or  the  owl 
will  soon  come  to  take  him  away.  But  the  coyote  cries  lustily, 
whereupon  the  owl  comes  and  says:  Give  me  the  child.  The  child 
(coyote)  is  given  her,  and,  putting  it  in  her  basket,  she  takes  it  to  her 
lodge.  There  the  coyote  sees  many  children  dancing.  He  takes 
pitch  and  rubs  it  over  the  face  and  eyes  of  the  owl,  so  that  she  can- 
not see.  He  then  threw  her  into  the  fire,  and  she  was  burned  to 
ashes.    All  the  children  returned  safely  home. 

(c.)   COYOTE   AND  OWL. 
(Told  in  the  Lower  Kootenay  Dialect  by  Angi  McLaughlin,  August  20,  l89t.) 

The  owl  kept  stealing  all  the  children.  The  coyote  said:  I  will 
become  a  child.  So  the  coyote  became  a  child  and  cried  at  night. 
He  was  told  to  keep  quiet  or  by  and  by  something  would  come  to 
take  him  away.  He  kept  on  crying,  however,  and  was  thrown  out 
of  doors.  The  owl  took  him  up  and  carried  him  off.  He  said  to 
the  owl:  I  am  the  coyote.  Let  us  dance.  They  danced— the  owl 
and  the  coyote.  The  coyote  kills  the  owl  and  brings  back  the  chil- 
dren with  him,  saying:  I  have  killed  the  owl. 

The  variations  of  narration  in  the  three  versions  given  above, 
and  in  that  of  Mr.  Wilson,  are  of  interest  as  showing  the  extent  to 
which  this  unwritten  literature  is  subject  to  change.  The  origin  of 
mosquitoes  is,  however,  accounted  for  somewhat  differently  in  the  fol- 
lowing legend: 

THE   ORIGIN  OF  MOSQUITOES. 

(Told  in  the  Upper  Kootenay  Dialect  by  Paul,  an  Indian  of  the 

Tobacco  Plains,  Sept.  12,  l89t). 

The  [first?]  mosquito  was  traveling  and  saw  at  a  distance  a 
number  of  lodges.  A  voice  said:  Come,  eat  choke-cherries!  But 
the  mosquito  said:  I  don't  want  to  eat  them.  So  the  mosquito  left 
and  traveled  on.  By  and  by  he  sees  another  village.  A  voice  said: 
Come,  you  shall  eat  service-berries.  The  mosquito  said:  1  don't 
want  to  eat  them.  So  he  leaves  and  sets  out  again.  By  and  by  he 
sees  another  village.  A  voice  says:  Come,  you  shall  eat  blood! 
This  time  the  mosquito  goes  up  to  the  village.  He  eats  very  much 
blood.  His  belly  swells  so  much  that  at  last  when  it  strikes  against 
a  stick  it  bursts,  and  the  mosquito  dies.  From  his  belly  come  forth 
a  myriad  of  mosquitoes,  who  all  fly  away. 


RELIGIONS. 


285 


RELIGIONS. 

THE  SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  STUDY 

OF  RELIGIONS. 

BY  PROF.    MORRIS  JASTROW,    JR. 
I. 

IN  the  historical  study  of  religions,  emphasis  is  to  be  laid  upon  the 
term  historical;  and  in  doing  so  it  is  implied  that  there  are  other 
points  of  view  besides  the  historical  one,  from  which  religions 
may  be  studied,  and  which,  moreover,  are  equally  legitimate. 
Among  these  points  of  view  we  may  instance  the  dogmatic  and 
philosophical.  Starting  from  the  assumption  that  religious  truth  is 
not  only  a  clearly  definable  substance,  but  has  found  its  embodiment 
in  a  definite  religious  organization,  the  remaining  religious  bodies  of  the 
world,  ancient  and  modern,  and  the  doctrines  held  by  them,  may  be 
subjected  to  a  minute  and  even  searching  investigation,  but  with  the 
Single  purpose  of  discovering  wherein  their  error  lies.  Examples  of 
such  a  treatment  of  religious  truth  will  occur  to  every  one,  and,  in- 
deed, until  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  dogmatic  method  may 
be  said  to  have  had  the  field  to  itself,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other; 
and  this  remark  holds  equally  good  whether  we  turn  to  the  Moham- 
medans and  note  their  treatment  of  other  religions  than  Islam,  or 
take  as  our  example  Christian  or  Jewish  scholars,  and  consider  their 
attitude  towards  religions  lying  outside  of  the  pale  of  Christianity  or 
Judaism.  "  Truth  is  single,  and  has  only  one  prophet,"  is  the  axiom 
which  forms  the  starting-point  and  the  goal — the  method  and  scope 
of  the  dogmatic  study  of  religions.  The  obvious  strength  of  the 
method  consists  in  its  power  of  placing  the  salient  features  of  the 
side  it  advocates  in  their  strongest  light,  while  it  shares  the  inherent 
weakness  of  many  an  apologetic  method  in  its  failure  to  touch  the 
really  vulnerable  points  of  the  opposing  cause.  It  is  possible, 
however,  to  err  on  the  side  of  breadth  as  Iwell  as  on  the  side  of 
narrowness;  and  if  the  dogmatic  study  of  religions  offends  us  by  its 
persistent  refusal  to  extend  the  mental  vision  beyond  a  certain  well- 

287 


288         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

defined  circle,  the  philosophical  attitude  towards  the  history  of 
religions,  which  began  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and 
found  its  most  distinguished  expounders  in  Herder  and  Hegel,  fails  to 
satisfy,  because  of  its  almost  fanatical  desire  to  recognize  certain 
phases  of  truth  in  all  the  manifestations  of  religion,  and  which  is 
equivalent  to  a  denial  of  absolute  truth.  The  attempt  to  define  these 
phases  which  constitutes  the  necessary  goal  of  the  philosophical 
method  reveals  with  equal  necessity  its  defects,  for  the  sulficient  reason 
that  what  may  be  termed  the  personal  equation  constitutes  a  too 
prominent  factor  in  any  endeavor  to  determine  the  relationship  ex- 
isting between  the  underlying  ideas  of  religious  thought  at  the  various 
stages  of  their  development,  and  the  combination  of  these  ideas  into 
a  progressive  and  continuous  series.  The  notable  utterance  of 
Lessing— himself  an  exponent  of  the  philosophy  of  religion— that  the 
search  for  truth  is  more  befitting  human  conditions  t-lian  the  possession 
of  truth,  summarizes  the  fatal  limits  of  the  study  of  religion  when 
viewed  from  the  point  of  view  of  philosophy.  The  search  for  truth 
is  bound  to  be  in  the  last  instance  a  subjective  process. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  importance  of  the  philosophical 
attitude  towards  the  course  of  religion  as  complementary  to  the  dog- 
matic position  cannot  be  overestimated.  Its  vitality  being  dependent 
upon  an  extended  mental  vista,  the  impartial  and  untrammeled  in- 
vestigation of  the  religious  history  of  mankind  follows  as  a  necessary 
corollary.  The  strong  impetus  given  by  such  master  minds  as 
Lessing,  Herder  and  Hegel  to  an  investigation  of  the  phenomena 
of  religion  in  the  eras  of  civilization  as  well  as  among  men 
living  under  primitive  conditions,  led  in  turn  to  the  deeper  appreci- 
ation of  the  beauties  to  be  found  in  the  manifold  forms  that  religion 
has  taken  on.  The  one-sidedness  resulting  from  the  dogmatic  method 
found  its  corrective  in  an  increase  of  accurate  knowledge  regarding  all 
religions;  and,  religions  no  longer  being  placed  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  balance,  there  was  no  need  of  increasing  the  weight  of  the  one  at 
the  expense  of  the  other. 

II. 

Turning  to  the  historical  method,  in  the  criticism  just  made  of 
the  dogmatic  and  philosophical  approach  to  the  subject,  there  is 
implied  by  contrast  what  is  meant  by  a  historical  study  of  religions. 
It  may  be  defined  as  the  unbiased  investigation  of  all  facts  connected 
with  the  religious  history  of  man,  and  the  attempt  to  interpret  these 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGIONS.     289 

facts,  not  by  any  system  of  thought  or  standard  of  life,  but  in  the 
light  of  the  conditions  that  give  rise  to  the  manifold  phenomena  of 
religion.  Through  these  features,  the  historical  method  is  sharply 
divided  off  from  other  attitudes  towards  the  religious  drama  of  man- 
kind. While  sharing-  with  the  non-dogmatic  position  the  breadth  of 
grasp  and  the  endeavor  to  be  impartial,  it  does  not  commit  itself  to  any 
unification  of  the  various  factors  in  the  drama,  and  in  this  way,  as  well 
as  by  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  principle  involved  in  an  assumption  of 
interdependence  between  social  conditions  and  facts,  avoids  the  danger 
of  subjectivity  in  the  interpretation  of  the  facts.  An  admirable  illus- 
tration of  the  historical  method,  which  gains  additional  interest  from 
being  the  earliest  notable  product  of  an  historical  study  of  religions, 
is  furnished  by  Carlyle's  study  of  Mohammed  in  his  lectures  on  Hero- 
Worship.  Carlyle's  starting-point  is  the  conviction  that,  whatever 
may  be  our  view  of  Mohammed  and  his  religion,  the  man  and  his 
doings  must  be  accounted  for  from  a  knowledge  of  his  surroundings. 
He  accordingly  enlarges  upon  a  description  of  the  social  and  religious 
status  of  Arabia  at  the  time  of  Mohammed's  birth,  and  analyzes  the 
intluences  that  must  have  co-operated  in  bringing  about  Mohammed's 
revolt  against  the  rites  and  beliefs  of  his  ancestors.  Reconstructing  in 
this  way  the  outlines  of  the  man  as  moulded  by  his  surroundings,  it 
is  a  comparatively  easy  task  to  complete  the  picture  by  adding  to  it  the 
personal  qualities  of  mind  and  disposition  that  distinguished  the  man. 
This  being  accomplished,  the  conditions  are  ripe  for  a  study  of 
Mohammed's  career  that  will  at  once  lead  to  a  satisfactory  explan- 
ation of  his  success,  and  at  the  same  time  to  a  recognition  of  the 
reasons  for  the  man's  limitations  and  the  corresponding  blemishes  in 
his  career.  The  merit  of  Carlyle  in  brushing  aside  once  for  all  the 
tissues  of  lies  that  European  estimates  had  woven  around  the  person 
of  the  great  religious  teacher,  is  but  a  natural  outcome  of  the  method 
he  pursues,  but  it  must  be  also  born  in  mind  that  the  same 
method  prevents  him  from  entering  upon  any  "whitewashing"  pro- 
cess— so  natural  a  temptation  to  any  one  engaged  in  fighting  down 
prejudicial  opinions. 

Proceeding  in  Carlyle's  footsteps.  Prof.  Max  Mueller  calls  for 
mention  here  as  one  of  the  first  to  combine  with  historical  method 
that  broad  and  scientific  study  of  religious  phenomena  which  has 
succeeded  in  giving  to  the  so-called  science  of  religion  its  present 
position  as  a  distinct  discipline.  Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  certain 
theories  associated  with  the  name  of  Max  Mueller,  historical  science 


290         THE  INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

owes  him  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  for  having  established,  as  a  con- 
ditio sine  qua  non  of  the  historical  study  of  religions,  the  recourse 
to  the  original  sources  for  our  knowledge  of  any  religion,  and 
coupled  with  this  the  added  necessity  of  original  research  on  the  part 
of  the  investigator.  It  was  historical  intuition  rather  than  profound 
knowledge  that  led  Carlyle  to  an  adoption  of  his  historical  method,  but 
what  constitutes  strength  in  him  forms  a  danger  to  those  not  similarly 
gifted,  and  men  of  the  type  of  Max  Mueller  provided  the  safeguard 
against  the  allurements  of  historical  intuition  by  combining  it  with 
the  scientific  habit  of  thought  that  is  the  fruit  of  original  investigation. 
A  proper  understanding  of  the  element  thus  contributed  will  help  to 
dissolve  what  is  perhaps  the  greatest  difficulty  confronting  the  student. 
The  range  of  the  discipline  is  naturally  very  wide,  and  the  pains- 
taking involved  in  the  gathering  of  facts  has  been  rendered  even  more 
laborious  by  the  constant  accession  of  new  material.  It  is  sufficient 
to  instance  the  travels  and  explorations  that  have  added  to  so  remark- 
able a  degree  to  the  minuteness  of  our  knowledge  of  peoples  in  all 
parts  of  the  inhabitable  world,  and  especially  of  those  whose  inhabit- 
ants have  until  recently  lived  their  lives  apart  from  the  currents  of 
civilization.  No  less  significant  are  the  prehistoric  researches  which 
form  one  of  the  glories  of  the  age,  and  if  to  this  be  added  such 
factors  as  the  opening  up  of  Sanskrit  literature,  the  recovery  of  the 
lost  civilizations  of  the  ancient  Orient,  the  new  light  in  which  modern 
criticism  has  placed  the  Bible  records,  the  accession  of  fresh  material 
for  classical  antiquity,  it  will  be  seen  that,  no  matter  how  small  an 
area  we  may  choose  for  our  special  object  of  study,  e'en  as  when  a 
stone  is  cast  into  the  water,  we  are  faced  by  the  problem  of  determin- 
ing where  the  limit  should  be  set  to  an  ever-increasing  circle.  The 
impossibility  of  gathering  all  one's  facts  at  first  hand  is  obvious, 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  exclusive  reliance  upon  the  material 
made  accessible  by  others  has  its  outcome  in  superficiality,  and  is 
characteristic  of  dilettantism,  but  not  of  genuine  science.  But,  the 
scientific  habit  of  thought  being  the  essential  condition  for  fertile 
research,  the  solution  suggested  is,  that  independent  investigation  for 
some  section  of  the  study  of  religions  is  an  indispensable  factor.  It 
matters  little  whether  the  section  chosen  be  the  prehistoric  phases  of 
the  most  primitive  religious  thought  or  one,  or,  happily,  more  than 
one  of  the  great  historic  religions,  so  long  as  the  task  involves 
the  scientific  method  of  looking  at  facts  which  is  a  part  of 
the  historical  method.     Upon  our  ability  to  pursue  original  investiga- 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGIONS.      29l 

tion  for  a  certain  part  of  the  field  depends  the  proper  utilization  of 
the  researches  of  others.  The  danger  of  dilettantism  being  greatest  in 
the  study  of  religions,  for  the  very  reason  that  the  subject  seems  so 
near  to  us,  the  fulfillment  of  this  preliminary  condition  is  one  upon 
which  too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid.  That  condition  once  ful- 
filled, the  widest  possible  use  also  of  the  aid  offered  by  disciplines 
bearing  on  the  subject  will  prove  to  be  of  great  service  for  that  part 
of  the  field  which  we  may  properly  call  our  own. 

III. 

It  is  needless  to  enlarge  upon  the  aids  I  have  in  view;  a  brief 
characterization  of  them  will  suffice.  Anthropology  in  the  narrower 
sense  is  to  be  noted  in  the  first  instance  for  the  reason  that  its  bearings 
upon  the  development  of  religious  ideas  and  rites  has  only  recently 
come  to  be  understood.  The  question  of  race  enters  largely  as  a 
determining  factor,  not  so  much  in  the  development  of  religion,  but 
in  the  limitation  of  that  development.  Difficult  as  it  may  be  to  us  to 
accept  the  conclusion,  it  yet  appears  to  have  been  ascertained  that 
certain  races  are  bound,  as  it  were,  to  well-defined  religious  concep- 
tions, and,  however  much  external  conditions  may  change,  the  prog- 
ress of  religion  among  them  does  not  pass  beyond  positive  limits. 
It  will  be  no  less  clear,  therefore,  that  the  question  of  what  may  be 
called  religious  distribution  is  profoundly  affected  by  the  study  of 
racial  characteristics.  No  less  important  than  the  utilization  of  researches 
made  in  this  direction  are  the  bearings  of  the  new  psychology  on  the 
history  of  religions.  The  interdependence  between  psychical  processes 
and  physiological  states  is  the  part  of  the  subject  that  I  have  more 
particularly  in  mind.  Complementary  to  the  more  general  bear- 
ings of  racial  traits,  we  have  in  the  study  and  interpretation  of  mental 
phenomena  a  valuable  aid  to  an  understanding  of  special  and  in- 
dividual religious  temperaments.  It  is  perhaps  too  early  to  apply  the 
results  of  physiological  psychology  in  their  fullest  extent,  but  one  is 
quite  safe  in  predicting  that  our  view  of  the  great  religious  teachers 
of  mankind,  more  especially  of  the  mystics,  is  certain  of  being  both 
clarified  and  modified  by  a  deeper  penetration  into  the  workings  of 
the  mind  peculiar  to  them.  It  seems,  in  the  third  instance,  almost 
superfluous  to  refer  to  the  part  that  Folk-lore  plays  in  a  general 
historical  method.  So  generally  is  this  point  recognized,  that  one 
feels  tempted  rather  to  sound  a  note  of  warning  against  an  unwar- 
ranted estimate  of  its  value  which  seems  to  be  springing  up  in  certain 


292         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

quarters.  The  special  province  of  Folk-lore,  so  far  as  the  study  of 
religions  is  concerned,  is  to  throw  light  upon  religious  customs  and 
survivals.  In  this  respect  we  have  been  taught  the  great  value  to  be 
put  upon  little  touches  in  religious  rites  a  peculiar  motion  of  hand  or 
body,  certain  expressions  used  almost  unconsciously  by  people,  and 
the  like.  Very  frequently  the  apparently  unimportant  detail  furnishes 
the  key  to  the  understanding  of  a  great  body  of  important  facts. 
Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  Folk-lore  has  modified  the  contemptu- 
ous estimate  that  superficial  considerations  were  accustomed  to  place 
upon  what  is  commonly  termed  superstition.  The  necessity  of  some 
expression  to  religious  emotion  being  admitted,  superstition  and 
legitimate  rite  stand  in  a  relation  of  past  and  present  to  one  another; 
or,  to  put  it  more  definitely,  the  rite  of  one  age  becomes  popular 
custom  in  another;  but  only  after  a  new  phase  of  the  rite  in  question 
has  been  reached.  In  no  other  department  of  the  subject  can  the 
continuity  of  the  religious  instinct  of  man  be  so  clearly  studied  as  in 
that  of  religious  ceremonies.  The  rubbing  of  one's  body  over  a  sacred 
stone  is  prompted  by  the  same  desire  for  communion  with  a  being 
supposed  to  exercise  a  control  over  us  that  leads  in  the  refinement  of 
religious  thought  to  the  outpouring  of  the  soul  in  prayer.  But  it  is 
likewise  evident  that  in  the  bearings  of  Folk-lore  on  the  development 
of  religious  rites,  there  lurks  the  danger  of  an  abuse  of  the  com- 
parative method,  nor  can  it  be  denied  that  an  actual  abuse  of  this 
character  has  tended  to  raise  a  suspicion  as  to  the  scientific  value  of 
Folk-lore  studies,  or,  if  that  appears  too  strong  a  statement  of  the 
case,  has  created  an  attitude  of  reserve  on  the  part  of  scholars  towards 
the  utilization  of  its  results.  To  avoid  this  danger,  the  very  simple 
principle  suggests  itself,  of  not  attempting  to  prove  too  much; 
though  it  should  at  once  be  added  that  here  as  elsewhere  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  remedy  is  far  easier  than  its  application.  While,  in  tracing 
the  unfolding  of  rites  and  customs,  the  scope  of  observation  ought  to 
be  just  as  wide  as  possible,  we  must  learn  the  lesson  of  contenting 
ourselves  frequently  with  a  statement  of  analogies  and  coincidences, 
without  drawing  therefrom  the  consequences  which  at  first  blush 
might  appear  obvious.  It  would  be  wrong,  however,  and  injurious 
to  depreciate  the  value  of  comparative  researches  because  of  the  mazes 
that  beset  one's  path.  The  example  of  Prof.  Robertson  Smith  for  the 
field  of  Semitic  religions  ought  to  be  sufi^cient  to  disarm  the  skeptics, 
and  even  though  so  great  a  scholar  as  J.  G.  Fraser,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  allowed  himself  to  be  led  astray  occasionally  by  an  application  of 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGIONS.     293 

the  very  same  method  that  distinguished  his  eminent  colleague,  still 
his  studies  in  comparative  religions,  notably  his  great  work  on  "The 
Golden  Bough,"  mark,  the  decided  advance  that  has  been  signaled  in 
the  historical  study  of  religions  through  the  valuable  aid  furnished  by 
Folk-lore.  It  may  cheerfully  be  admitted  that  the  ocean  of  com- 
parative science  is  strewn  with  the  wrecks  that  tell  the  sad  story  of 
the  daring  of  inexperienced  navigators,  but  it  is  wrong  to  put  the 
blame  on  the  ocean,  or  even  on  the  vessel.  And  after  all,  taking  all 
things  into  consideration,  while  one  is  justified  in  uttering  the  warning, 
"  Be  not  too  bold,"  we  are  equally  warranted  in  adding: 

"  Better  the  excess  than  the  surcease, 
Better  the  more  than  the  less." 

It  is,  1  venture  to  add,  in  the  realm  of  primitive  culture  that  the 
mistakes  through  a  too  rash  application  of  the  comparative  method 
are  in  the  main  liable  to  be  made;  and  it  seems  timely,  therefore,  to 
urge  the  value  of  the  method,  more  especially  in  the  study  of  the 
great  historic  religions;  and  if  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  illustrate 
the  manner  in  which  present  thought  and  custom  is  yet  closely  linked 
to  a  past  withal  so  dissimilar  to  modern  conditions  of  life.  The 
point,  it  will  be  seen,  has  a  practical  bearing,  and  raises  the  pertinent 
question  as  to  the  proper  scope  of  the  historical  study  of  religions. 
It  is  idle  to  disguise  the  fact  that  in  many,  even  scientific,  circles, 
there  prevails  a  certain  fear  upon  entering  what  appears  to  be  a 
thorny  field;  in  other  quarters,  there  is  a  vague  notion  that  in  some 
way  the  investigation  of  religions  is  bound  to  create  havoc  within  the 
domain  of  religious  faith.  I  venture  to  controvert  both  allegations 
involved.  The  scholar  who  permits  himself  in  his  researches  to  be 
swayed  by  any  other  motive  or  consideration  than  the  pursuit  of 
truth  is  a  traitor  to  his  cause,  and  yet  1  see  no  reason  why  the  scholar, 
in  dealing  with  matters  that  constitute  the  most  sacred  possessions  of 
mankind,  should  not  be  reverent  in  his  manner  of  treatment.  He 
should  remember  that  the  ground  on  which  he  treads  is  holy— if  not 
to  him,  then,  what  is  more  important,  to  others.  This  is  the  oul 
concession  that  may  be  legitimately  demanded  of  him,  or,  rather, 
a  proper  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others  should  be  so  natural  to  him 
as  to  remove  the  consciousness  of  making  any  concession.  But  1 
go  farther,  and  declare  that  the  study  of  religions  within  its  legitimate 
limits  has  absolutely  no  bearings  on  questions  of  pure  faith.  The 
qualification  of  "historical"  as  it  suggests  the  method,  also  indicates  the 


294        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

scope  of  the  study.  It  must  be  free  from  any  Tendeni—io  use  the 
stronger  German  word— and  in  this  respect,  too,  is  sharply  separated 
from  a  dogmatic  or  philosophical  study.  Confining  itself  to  a  study 
of  past  or  of  existing  religious  conditions,  the  value  of  the  discipline 
lies  in  the  light  that  it  may  be  expected  to  throw  upon  them;  but 
beyond  this  there  is  absolutely  no  reason  why  it  should  proceed.  It 
does  not  concern  itself  with  the  truth  or  falseness  of  doctrines  any 
more  than  it  enters  upon  a  criticism,  favorable  or  otherwise,  of  religious 
rites,  but  regards  everything  connected  with  the  religious  life  of  man 
from  the  historical  point  of  view,  and  that  solely.  This  limitation 
being  recognized,  one  can  see  no  reason  for  even  the  possibility  of  a 
conflict.  On  the  contrary,  if  any  conclusion  may  be  drawn  from 
historical  researches  bearing  on  the  suftkiency  of  religious  faith,  the 
conviction  that  deepens  upon  the  student,  the  clearer  his  grasp  and  the 
wider  his  vision,  namely  that  religious  faith  and  religious  emotion  exist 
everywhere,  and  under  all  conditio-is,  follow  mankind  from  the  cradle 
of  culture  to  the  estate  of  manhood,  constitute  an  essential  part  of  his 
nature,  corresponding  to  certain  needs  of  his  being — if,  I  say,  any  con- 
clusion at  all  is  to  be  drawn,  it  can  only  be  that  the  historical  study  of 
religions  serves  to  set  oif  the  religious  side  of  man  and  mankind's 
history  in  a  stronger  and  more  brilliant  light. 

IV. 

Let  me  add  a  few  words  as  to  the  position  of  the  study  of 
religions  in  the  university  curriculum,  and  with  some  indications, 
necessarily  brief,  as  to  the  equipments  for  a  proper  study. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  seveial  of  our  American  institutions 
have  quite  recently  followed  European  precedents  in  introducing  the 
subject  among  graduate  studies.*  At  Harvard,  indeed,  its  impor- 
tance has  been  recognized  for  some  time.  Cornell  about  two  years 
ago  established  a  special  chair  for  the  study  in  the  Sage  School  of 
Philosophy;  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  courses  in  ancient 
religions  constitute  a  feature  of  the  Department  of  Philosophy,  and 
the  vigorous  University  of  Chicago  has  set  the  example  to  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  West  in  making  special  provisions  for  the  discipline. 
But  in  order  that  the  historical  study  of  religions  may  be  carried  on 


♦For  a  fuller  presentation  of  the  present  status  of  the  Historical  Study  of 
Religions  in  this  country  I  may  refer  to  my  article  in  the  'Biblical  IVorld,  Vol. 
I.,  No.  t. 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGIONS.      295 

in  accord  with  the  method  above  outhned,  something  more  than  a 
number  of  courses  or  even  a  special  chair  is  demanded.  The  French 
Government  has  recognized  that  by  means  of  a  special  department 
alone  can  satisfactory  results  be  attained.  At  the  Ecole  des  H antes 
Etudes  of  Paris  there  was  established  a  few  years  ago  a  "  Section  des 
Etudes  Religieuses,"  with  a  faculty  of  no  less  than  twelve  members.  In 
this  way  a  chair  was  provided  for  each  one  of  the  great  religions,  or 
groups  of  religions,  and  assigned  to  a  scholar  who  had  made  the  sources 
for  the  respective  branch  the  object  of  his  special  investigation.  For 
so  extensive  a  subject  as  the  History  of  Christianity,  further  subdivis- 
ions were  made.  The  plan,  it  will  be  seen,  admirably  fulfills  the  one 
condition  of  a  true  historical  method  in  laying  the  proper  emphasis 
upon  original  research,  and  thus  closing  the  doors  etfectually  to  any 
kind  of  dilettantism.  The  general  and  comparative  aspects  are  sup- 
plied by  the  chair  for  "  L'Histoire  des  Religions"  at  the  College 
de  France,  so  ably  filled  by  M.  Albert  Reville.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
defect  of  the  French  school  consists  in  its  failure  to  furnish  that  broad 
illustration  from  the  various  fields  that  have  above  been  shown  to  be 
essential  to  a  complete  study,  in  addition,  therefore,  to  the  study  of 
the  various  religions,  a  fully  equipped  department  calls  for  a  present- 
ation of  the  main  principles,  at  least  of  Anthropology,  Psychology  and 
Folk-lore,  and  as  much  more  than  the  principles  as  may  be  found 
feasible.  To  meet  the  practical  objections  that  may  be  raised  against 
so  apparently  extensive  a  scheme,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  the 
larger  universities  of  this  country,  with  special  chairs  already  estab- 
lished for  the  study  of  the  various  Ancient  Languages,  and  with 
equipment  for  Anthropological  and  Psychological  researches,  are  in 
a  position  with  but  little  additional  expense  to  create  such  a  depart- 
ment as  is  here  in  view.  The  teaching  corps  being  provided  for,  the 
introduction  of  a  number  of  additional  courses  and  the  adaptation  of 
others  already  introduced  is  all  that  is  needed  to  make  a  good  starh 

V. 

Lastly,  a  valuable  adjunct  to  any 'study  of  religions  that  must 
not  be  overlooked  is  the  Museum  of  Religious  History.  Paris  is  for- 
tunate in  possessing^.the  greatest  collection  of  this  character  in  the 
famous  Musee  Guirnet.  One  who  has  seen  the  rich  display,  which 
fills  an  entire  building,  and  yet  only  embraces  a  restricted  section  of 
the  religious  history  of  man,  might  despair  of  the  possibility  of  secur- 
ing a  complete  or  even  adequate  illustration  to  (he  subject.     Yet  the 


296        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

task  is  not  so  great  as  at  first  blush  appears.  The  value  of  a  working- 
museum  of  Religious  History  does  not  lie  in  an  extensive  array  of 
objects  as  much  as  in  the  proper  arrangement  of  characteristic  speci- 
mens. Hardly  less  important  than  specimens,  and  frequently  sup- 
plying the  lack  of  the  latter,  are  models,  photographs  and  maps — 
all  of  which  are  easily  to  be  had  nowadays.  The  time  allotted  to 
me  precludes  the  unfolding  of  any  detailed  plan  for  a  Religious 
Museum,  and  1  must,  therefore,  content  myself  with  a  summary 
of  the  principles  that  should  govern  the  choice  and  arrangement  of 
objects. 

A  three-fold  division  of  the  museum,  into  general,  special  and 
comparative,  suggests  itself.  To  each  a  separate  room  or  section 
should  be  assigned,  following  one  another  in  the  order  mentioned. 

A. 

The  general  section  will  consist  chiefly  of  diagrams  to  illustrate: 

{a.)  The  divisions  of  the  subject. 

{b.)  The  sequence  of  the  various  religions. 

{c.)  The  past  and  present  geographical  distribution  of  religions. 

id.)  The  main  elements  of  religions. 

{e.)  The  characteristic  traits  of  the  various  races  of  mankind. 

B. 

In  the  section  devoted  to  the  special  illustration  of  the  various 
religions,  and  which  will  form  naturally  the  kernel,  as  it  were,  of  the 
museum,  there  shall  be  a  further  subdivision  into: 

{a.)    The  religious  life  of  primitive  man. 

(p.)    The  religions  of  civilization. 

The  basis  of  illustration  for  the  first  division  shall  be  the  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  primitive  doctrines  and  rites;  in  the  second 
division,  each  religion  is  to  be  treated  independently,  and  the  illustra- 
tion shall  cover  the  entire  scope  of  the  religion  in  question.  Charts 
and  models  will  form  the  main  feature  in  the  first  division;  objects 
used  in  worship  will  predominate  in  the  latter. 

For  illustrating  the  religion  of  primitive  culture,  such  sections  as 
ancestor- worship,  talismans  and  objects  of  adoration,  beliefs  in  good 
and  evil  spirits,  birth,  marriage,  burial  and  military  customs  are  to  be 
taken  up  in  succession;  for  the  illustration  of  the  religions  of  civil- 
ization, the  more  or  less  elaborate  ritual  in  each  case  should  form  the 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD*OF  HISTORICAL  STUDY  OF  RELIGIONS.      297 

starting-point,  and  the  illustration  with  the  aid  of  models  or  diagrams 
of  altars,  temples  and  ceremonies  should  follow  the  order  of  the 
religious  observances  during  the  year  or,  in  certain  instances,  cycles  of 
years.  Accompanying  this  illustration  shall  be  charts  in  the  case  of 
each  religion,  giving  a  summary  of  its  salient  traits  and  of  its  history. 

C. 

In  the  comparative  section,  the  main  purpose  shall  be  to  main- 
tain a  strict  consistency  with  the  two  other  sections.  It  will,  accord- 
ingly, consist  of: 

{a.)  The  duplicates  of  the  objects  and  models  embraced  in  the 
special  division,  but  arranged  according  to  a  certain  order  of  sub- 
jects, and 

(b.)  Charts  showing  distribution  of  various  doctrines  and 
customs,  their  agreements  and  points  of  divergence  among  dit^'erent 
peoples,  arranged  in  order  the  of  historical  development. 


AN  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN  RITE  ILLUSTRATING  A 
PHASE  OF  PRIMITIVE  THOUGHT. 

BY  SARA   Y.   STEVENSON. 

TWELVE  years  ago— in  1881— five  royal  pyramids  of  the  Vth 
and  Vlth  dynasties  were  opened  at  Saqqarah,  and  their  walls 
were  found  to  be  covered  with  extensive  religious  texts. 
Mr.  Maspero,  under  whose  supervision  the  work  was  conducted, 
immediately  applied  himself  to  their  publication,*  and  the  difficulties 
of  the  undertaking,  as  well  as  the  richness  of  the  material  discovered, 
may  be  estimated  by  the  fact  that  only  this  summer  has  the  task 
been  completed.  The  work  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  Egypt- 
ologists, to  whom  these  texts  have  opened  an  entirely  fresh  field  of 
research. 

The  Egyptian  language— its  grammar,  its  syntax,  and  even  its 
graphic  expression— underwent  many  serious  changes  during  the 
millenniums  of  its  existence,  and  the  inscriptions  of  the  early  period 
until  then  available  were,  comparatively  speaking,  unimportant. 

When  Mr.  Maspero  undertook  the  task  before  him,  little  had  yet 
been  done  towards  the  study  of  the  archaic  language  of  Egypt.  He, 
therefore,  had  to  grope  his  way  through  the  dark,  in  his  effort  to 
reach  the  light  which  now,  thanks  to  him,  others  may  use  to  find 
their  way  to  a  fuller  understanding  of  those  remote  ages.  Had  he 
accomplished  nothing  else,  he  would  have  deserved  the  gratitude  of 
the  learned  world;  and  as  I  am  about  to  make  free  use  of  the  material 
which  he  has  not  only  made  available,  but  upon  which  lie  has  so 
luminously  brought  to  bear  his  own  ingenious  scholarship,  1  take 
pleasure— at  the  time  when  he  has  just  completed  this  great  workt- 
in  publicly  paying  him  the  tribute  which  1  feel  is  his  due,  and  in 
calling  the  attention  of  anthropologists  to  the  bearing  of  his  researches 
upon  the  broader  study  of  religious  ideas  and  rites.  For  specialists 
are  not  alone  concerned  ii.  the  study  of  these  texts;  they  are  of  value 
to  all  who  are  interested  in  the  development  of  human  thought. 

*T{ecueil  de    Travaux,   etc.,    Vols.    Illrd,    I  Vth,    Vllth,    Vlllth,  IXth,   Xlth, 
Xllth,  XlVth. 

f  La  Pyramide  dti  Roi  Pcpi  II.     Rec.  de  Trav.  XIV.  liv.  3  and  4.  pp.  125-152. 

298 


AN  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN  RITE,  299 

They  have  revealed  to  us  in  all  its  genuineness — untampered  with  by 
scribes,  translators  and  priestly  commentators— the  religious  expres- 
sion of  men  who,  if  they  had  already  attained  a  high  degree  of 
culture  when  they  first  appear  before  us,  belonged— as  is  attested  by 
many  survivals  from  very  primitive  times  in  their  industrial  methods, 
as  well  as  by  their  language,  their  graphic  system,  and  their  mode  of 
religious  thought — to  an  understratum  of  mankind. 

The  Pyramid-texts  have  preserved  ancient  formulae — forming  a 
part  of  the  funeral  ritual  of  the  Egyptians  according  to  which  the 
various  ceremonies  connected  with  the  honoring  of  the  dead  were 
regulated.  The  importance  of  this  ritual  to  the  Pyramid-builders  may 
be  estimated  by  the  share  that  preparation  for  death  played  in  their 
hope  of  immortality.  Mixed  in  among  the  prayers  and  incantations 
here  are  also  to  be  found  indications  of  the  ceremony  in  the  course  of 
which  these  were  uttered. 

It  would  seem  as  though  anxiety  was  already  beginning  to  be 
felt  lest  the  ancient  usage  should  in  time  be  overlooked. 

Although  slight,  these  indications — when  compared  with  the 
rubrics  of  later  times — are  enough  to  show  that  this  ritual  was  then 
already  firmly  fixed;  and  the  inference  is  that  the  rites  in  question 
may  with  safety  be  ascribed  to  a  very  early  period. 

Mr.  Maspero  *  has  pointed  out  that,  as  centuries  and  millenniums 
rolled  by,  the  real  meaning  of  the  mimicry  originally  adopted  in  the 
ceremonial  became  dim  in  men's  minds,  and  a  tendency  towards 
modification  was  felt.  Under  the  New  Empire  the  rites  were  per- 
formed indifferently  in  a  more  or  less  perfunctory  manner.  Ideas 
had  changed ;  new  interpretations  were  superseding  old  ones; 
and  the  thought  embodied  by  their  ancestors  in  the  minutiae  of  the 
ancient  forms  was  only  understood  by  a  few.  Accordingly  rubrics 
were  added  to  the  texts,  and  indications  were  given  for  the  proper 
celebration  of  these  more  important  rites  which — according  to  sacred 
tradition — were  essential  to  the  life  of  the  dead. 

The  publication  of  the  Funeral  Ritual  was  begun  by  Signor  E. 
Schiaparelli  t  in  1881.  The  principal  text  used  was  found  by  him 
transcribed  in  black  and  red  inks  upon  the  coffin  of  a  royal  scribe  of 
the  Theban  Nekropolis — Bute-haamon— who  lived  under  the  XXth  dy- 


*  Rituel  du  Sacrifice  Fundraire,  1887. 

f//  Libra  dei  Funerali  degli  ^/Ititicbi  Egi^iaui.     Erm.  Loescher,  1880-1882. 
Roma,  Torino,  Firenze. 


300        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

nasty.  This,  compared  with  the  funeral  roll  of  the  lady  Sais,*  who  lived 
in  the  Roman  period,  served  him  as  a  foundation  for  his  work. 

The  obscurities  which  such  a  book  offer  to  the  modern  mind 
were  partly  dispelled  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  paintings  in  the 
tomb  of  King  Seti  I.,t  which — in  their  representation  of  a  series  of 
scenes  enacted  by  priests  around  the  funeral  statue  of  the  deceased 
monarch— revealed  the  full  meaning  of  the  performance  referred  to 
in  the  texts  studied  by  the  Italian  scholar. 

All  are,  in  fact,  but  different  editions  of  the  Ritual  which  the 
kings  of  the  old  empire  had  inscribed  upon  the  walls  of  their  Pyramids. 
Moreover  it  has  since  been  possible  to  supplement  certain  lacunse  in 
these  various  documents  by  means  of  paintings  discovered  on  the 
walls  of  several  other  Theban  tombs.  J  These  independent  versions 
serve  to  elucidate  each  other  and  furnish  a  very  complete  description 
of  the  ceremony.  § 

As  is  well  known,  the  Egyptians  entertained,  upon  the  subject  of 
the  after  life,  a  variety  of  notions  which,  although  to  us  seemingly 
conflicting,  do  not  appear  to  have  excluded  each  other  in  their  minds. 

These  are  obviously  of  gradual  growth,  and  must  have  been  the 
result  of  altered  conditions  in  the  material  existence  of  the  people,  who 
thus  were  led  to  conceive  man  as  a  complicated  organism  endowed 
with  a  multiplicity  of  spiritual  elements,  each  of  which  was  designed 
to  accomplish  a  distinct  destiny. 

Of  all  these  conceptions,  the  only  one  which  concerns  us  at 
present — not  only  because  it  forms  the  basis  of  the  rite  which  we  are 
about  to  consider,  but  because  it  evidently  belongs  to  the  earliest 
stages  of  primitive  thought — is  that  which  regards  the  dead  as  living 
in  the  tomb,  and  as  enjoying  the  material  comforts  provided  for  him 
by  the  piety  of  his  survivors. 

This  belief  is  a  wide-spread  one  among  men  in  a  low  stage  of 
culture  who  practiced  cave  or  mound-burial;   and  the  present  popu- 


*  Th.  Deveria.  Catalogue  des  CMamiscrits  Egjyptiens  du  Louvre,  pp.  170-171,  VU. 
4.  Inv.,  No.  3l5S.  This  MS.  is  mutilated,  but  contains  a  liturgy  in  which  are 
mentioned  the  different  orders  of  officiating  priests,  and  in  which  their  r61e  or 
special  action  is  indicated. 

f  Schiaparelli,  loc.  Cit.  III.     Tesio  Monumentale  di  Seti  /.,  1881. 
X  J.  Duemichen,  T)£r  Grahpalast  des  Patuamenep  in  der  Thebanischen  hlekro 
polis.     Leipzig,  Y.  C.  Heinrichs,  1884-5.    2  vols. 

g  G.  Maspero,  Le  T^ituel  du  Sacrifice  Funiraire,  pp.  11,  1887.    ' 


AN    ANCIENT   EGYPTIAN   RITE.  301 

lations  of  Europe*— as  well  as  the  later  inhabitants  of  Egypt  f— have 
retained  in  their  folk-lore  traces  of  the  strong  faith  which  prompted 
their  early  ancestors  to  such  stupendous  efforts  for  the  purpose  of 
providing  "  eternal  dwellings"  for  their  dead.t 

But  the  Egyptians,  with  their  characteristic  realism,  carried  these 
beliefs  further,  in  their  logical  consequences,  than  any  other  people. 
And,  as  they  reached  a  high  degree  of  culture,  art  and  ingenious 
mechanical  devices  were  placed  at  their  disposal,  and  helped  to  bring 
about  the  surpassing  degree  of  development  that  now  astonishes  the 
superficial  observer. 

Already  in  the  early  days  of  Egyptian  history  means  had  been 
devised  for  the  preservation  of  the  body,  the  integrity  of  which  was 
regarded  as  the  necessary  condition  of  the  survival  of  the  spirit. 
Moreover,  to  guard  against  the  possible  contingency  of  its  destruction, 
portrait-statues  of  the  deceased  were  secreted  in  the  sepulchre;  verit- 
able false-bodies  in  which  this  most  material  of  spirits,  the  "  Ka," 
might  dwell  should  the  mummy  fail  it. 

All  this  was  not  enough;  death  had  sealed  the  mummy's  lips, 
closed  its  eyes;  and  the  practical,  intelligent  Egyptian  of  Pyramid 
times  apparently  knew  full  well  that  the  stone  or  wooden  statues  were 
not,  in  themselves,  capable  of  carrying  on  a  human  existence. 

But  of  their  primeval  days  they  had  preserved  the  belief  that  it 
was  in  their  power  to  endow  these  statues  with  life. 

This  seemed  easy  to  accomplish  at  an  epoch  when  formulae  and 
other  practices  which  we  term  magic  were  regarded  as  all-powerful 
even  over  the  gods.  Thus  it  was  that  the  intricate  Ritual  called  the 
Ap-Ro  ("the  opening  of  the  mouth")  was  devised,  by  the  help  of 
which  not  only,  as  hinted  by  the  title,  were  the  mouth  and  eyes  of 
the  mummy  or  of  the  "  Ka"  statue  opened,  that  it  might  see  and 
partake  of  the  comforts  provided  for  it  by  the  piety  of  the  relatives  of 
the  dead,  but  his  life  was  brought  down  to  dwell  in  it. 

The  whole  ceremony  was  an  elaborate  mystery,  a  sort  of  "Passion 
play,"  in  which  was  enacted  the  Osirian  drama.  It  was  accompanied 
with  lamentations,   sacrifices  and   a  funeral  repast,   in   which  the 


■  Boyd  Dawkins,  Early  Man  in  Britain,  p.  328-335,  etc. 

f  S.  Vattier,  L'E^jpie  de  Murtadi,  p.  46-48,  57-124.  Makrizi,  quoted  by 
S.  de  Sacy,  Observations  sur  le  Norn  des  Pyramides,  p.  37.  Maspero,  l{ec.  dc  Trav., 
1.,  p.  160. 

X  Gabriel  de  Mortillet,  Le  Prdhisiorique. 


302         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

mummy  played  the  role  of  Osiris,  and  in  which  took  part  as  many 
actors  as  the  wealth  and  station  of  the  deceased  might  warrant. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable  now  to  go  over  the  whole 
of  the  complicated  ritual  in  all  its  details.  An  account  of  its  more 
important  parts  may  be  found  in  Mr.  Maspero's  admirable  resume 
published  in  the  %evue  de  VHistoire  des  Religions,  in  1886. 

The  part  of  the  performance  to  which  I  wish  to  refer  was 
originally  intended  to  take  place  in  the  sepuchral  chamber,  or,  as  the 
Egyptians  called  it,  the  "Golden  House"  (Hat-nub),  although  from 
earliest  monumental  times  this  chamber,  constructed  at  the  foot  of  a 
deep  well,  was  rendered  inaccessible  for  the  purpose.  This,  and  the 
mention  of  the  mystic  use  of  green  paint  in  the  rite  intended  to  open 
the  eyes  of  the  statue,  may  be  considered  as  attesting  the  hoary 
antiquity  of  this  Ritual.  It  is  only  in  the  most  archaic  art  that  we 
find  the  defunct  represented  with  a  band  of  green  paint  run  across 
the  eyes;*  and,  as  far  as  1  know,  the  only  mummy  recovered  whose 
eyes  had  been  painted  green  is  one  found  by  Mr.  Petrie  in  the  very 
ancient  Nekropolis  of  Medum.t 

In  historical  times  the  rite  was  necessarily  performed  either  in 
the  sepulchral  chapel  or  on  the  platform  in  front  of  the  tomb.  Four 
performers  took  part.  The  preliminary  ceremony  was  purificatory. 
The  mummy  was  placed  upon  a  bed  of  sand.|  A  priest,  acting  the 
part  of  servant  (Sem),  or  of  a  friend  (S'-mer),  walked  four  times 
around  it,  censer  in  hand,  sprinkling  it  with  water  from  four  different 
vessels,  repeating  the  important  formulae  in  which  the  defunct  was 
identified  with  Horos,  the  highest  god,  and  his  children,  /.  c,  Horos, 
Set,  Thoth  and  Soped,  here  representing  the  four  cardinal  points  or 
the  great  houses  of  heaven.  At  a  certain  point  of  the  ceremony  the 
four  actors  personified  these  gods.  This  was  done  twice:  for  the 
north  and  for  the  south.  The  whole  process  was  repeated  over  again 
with  incense  from  the  north  and  the  south,  and  once  more  with  the 
divine  incense,  "  Sen-nuter,"  of  foreign  origin. 

The  preliminaries  over,  the  first  performer,  wrapping  himself  up 
in  a  shroud-like  scarf,  lay  down,  feigning  sleep,  whilst  two  new  per- 
sonages— the  officiating  priest,  or  "Kher-heb,"  holding  a  rollof  papyrus, 
and  his  assistant — entered  to  see  the  dead. 


*Mariette,  Mastabas,  p.  68. 

^U^editm,  W.  M.  Flinders-Petrie,  1891,  p.  9;  the  mummy  of  Ra-Nefer,  eyes 
painted  green  upon  the  shroud. 
X  RiUiel  du  Sacrifice  Funeraire. 


AN  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN   RITE.  303 

Another  actor,  the  "  inhabitant  of  the  sepulchre"  or  "Ami-asi,'' 
who  had  stood  on  watch  beside  the  statue,  then  awoke  the  sleeper, 
who,  sitting  up,  said:  "  I  have  seen  my  father  under  all  his  forms." 
The  others  answered:  "  Is  not  this  thy  father.?  "  after  which  followed 
a  mysterious  dialogue  in  which  the  defunct  was  identified  with 
Osiris.* 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  feigned  sleep  of  the  priest  was  intended 
to  convey  the  idea  that  his  spirit  had  traveled  to  the  land  of  spirits. 
Sleep  and  death  were  closely  connected  in  the  primitive  mind,  and 
dreams  were  looked  upon  as  a  common  medium  used  by  the  gods  to 
reveal  themselves  and  the  unknown  to  their  worshipers,  t  For 
instance,  the  Alexandrian  author  of  Poimandres,  relating  his  vision, 
says:  "  The  sleep  of  the  body  produces  lucidity  of  the  intellect— my 
closed  eyes  saw  the  truth." X 

These  first  scenes  of  the  performance  were  intended  to  restore  to 
the  dead  his  shadow — that  mysterious  companion  which  the  Egyptians 
regarded  as  an  essential  part  of  man's  complete  personality,  and 
which  originally  they,  in  common  with  other  races  in  a  low  stage  of 
culture,  probably  looked  upon  as  the  spirit. § 

Having  accomplished  this,  the  Sem  arose,  took  a  lotus-headed 
stick,  and,  adorning  himself  with  a  large  jeweled  collar,  which  Mr. 
Maspero  calls  an  ephod,  he  addressed  the  statue,  and,  urged  by  the 
other  performers,  he  proceeded  to  touch  its  mouth  and  eyes  with 
adzes  of  wood  and  iron,  each  of  which  had  a  name  and  was  especi- 
ally intended  for  the  purpose  to  which  it  was  put. 

The  rite  was  a  most  lengthy  process.  It  was  accompanied  by 
numberless  formulas  recalling  episodes  of  the  Osirian  myth,  and  was 
several  times  interrupted  by  the  sacrifice  of  at  least  two  oxen,  the 
heart  and  thigh  of  which  were  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  statue,  and  of 
other  lesser  victims,  such  as  birds  or  gazelles. 

The  mouth  and  eyes  of  the  defunct  had  been  declared  open ;  but 
now  they  must  be  healed,  that  he  might  use  them,  and  that  the 
mystery  might  be  perfected.  This  was  done  with  the  help  of  a  rod 
in  the  form  of  a  ram-headed  serpent,  upon  whose  brow  stood  the 


*  Maspero,  t/!rcbdologie  Egjyptientie,  p.  147;  fig.  l5l,  gives  the  representation 
of  this  scene. 

f  See  the  Stela  of  the  Sphinx,  for  instance.     T{ecords  of  the  Past,  Vol.  1. 

X  Etude  sur  I'Origine  des  Livres  Hermdtique$,  L.  Menard,  p.  58;  Hermii  Tns- 
mdgistus,  1867,  Paris.     See  also  p.  146  in  the  Asklepios. 

gSchiaparelli,  loc.  cit.  iii.,  Tavola,  LIl. 


304         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

uraeus,  a  veritable  magic  wand  by  the  virtue  of  which  was  wrought 
this  greatest  of  prodigies,  and  whilst  the  Sem  touched  four  times  with 
this  wand  the  eyes  and  mouth  of  the  statue,  the  officiating  priest 
spoke  the  following  words :  * 

"  My  mouth  was  sealed — it  is  I  who  have  put  it  in  order  as  well 
as  thy  teeth,  O  statue  of  the  Osiris.  Nut  hath  raised  thy  head — 
brought  all  the  gods  to  thee.  Thou  hast  charmed  them — thou  hast 
made  them  live — thou  hast  become  the  stronger,  and  hast  performed 
the  life-giving  act  with  them  behind  the  statue  of  the  Osiris  N.,  that 
he  may  prosper  and  not  die.  Thou  hast  mixed  with  the  '  Kas '  of  all 
the  gods,  and  as  thou  risest  as  King  of  Upper  Egypt — as  thou  risest 
as  King  of  Lower  Egypt — sovereign  among  all  the  gods  and  their 
Kas;  therefore  Shu,  son  of  Atum,  it  is  he — the  Osiris  N.  If  he  lives 
thou  livest.  He  hath  armed  thee  Shu— He  hath  saluted  thee  Shu  — 
He  hath  exalted  thee  Shu — He  hath  made  thee  sovereign  Shu— and 
thou  hast  performed  the  life-imparting  act,t  behind  the  statue  of  the 
Osiris  N.  So  thy  life-force  is  behind  him  that  he  may  live  and 
never  die.  O  statue  of  the  Osiris  N.,  Horos  hath  divided  thy  mouth, 
he  hath  opened  thy  two  eyes  with  the  divine  adze  and  the  'urhikau,' 
which  is  used  to  open  the  mouth  of  all  the  gods  of  the  South." 

In  paintings  of  later  times,  the  soul  is  sometimes  depicted  hover- 
ing over  the  mummy,  holding  to  its  lips  the  ankh,  or  life-hieroglyph, 
and  the  Sail,  or  hieroglyph  for  "  Breath, "j  which,  from  the  Egyptian 
point  of  view,  was  an  artistic  rendering  closely  related  to  the  idea 
expressed  by  the  "  Kher-heb,"  when,  after  bringing  down  life  to  dwell 
into  the  statue,  he,  as  we  have  seen,  identified  the  dead  with  Shu, 
the  air-god,  who  supports  the  heavenly  vault  and  its  divine  host.§ 

It  is  quite  clear  that  the  Egyptians  regarded  life  as  inherent  in 
their  nature-gods,  and  as  forming  the  principal  attribute  of  their 
divinity.  The  hieroglyph  for  "  life"  was  placed  in  the  hand  of  every 
divine  personage,  and  the  granting  of  the  divine  protection  was 
symbolized  by  raising  this  emblem  to  the  lips  of  the  worshiper. 

*  Maspero,  T^ituel  du  Sacrifice  Ftincraire,  1887. 

f  Pierret,  Diet.,  1875,  p.  5l6,  translates  the  "Sa":  protection  (from  behind). 
A  variant  of  the  hieroglyph  usually  used  is  held  in  the  hand  of  the  goddess 
Thoueris,  whose  favorite  emblem  it  is.  She  was  esssentially  a  mother-goddess, 
and  its  association  with  her  instead  of  the  "  ankh  "  is  very  significant. 

\  Wilkinson,  Life  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  111.,  p.  l59,  1879. 

§  Shu  "the  god  of  light,"  of  which  the  "air  is  the  soul."  H.  Brugsch, 
T^ecueil  de  ^Monuments  Egyptiens,  XXXIV.,  4. 

St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  "  Prince  and  power  of  the  air." 


AN   ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN   RITE.  305 

The  "life-force "  seems  to  have  been  conceived  by  the  Egyptians 
as  a  magnetic  essence,  which  has  been  aptly  compared  by  Mr.  Maspero 
to  the  "aura "  of  our  modern  spiritualists. 

How  apt  is  the  comparison  may  be  judged  from  the  following 
passage  out  of  a  leading  Spiritualist  paper,  published  in  Chicago,  that 
most  progressive  of  modern  cities,  where,  after  stating  that  every 
living  form  possesses  a  "duplicate  soul,"  the  writer  adds:  "The 
fragrance  of  the  flower,  the  '  aura '  of  the  animal,  are  none  other 
than  soul-elements  which  have  passed  through  organic  change,  in 
preparation  for  an  advanced  step  in  evolution."  "Life  is  a  per- 
manent force  which  separates  from  matter  and  goes  with  the  soul- 
substances.  "  *     .     .     . 

An  ancient  priest  of  Ptah  or  of  Osiris  could  not  have  better 
described  his  belief,  nor  would  he  have  repudiated  the  following 
assertion  obtained  from  a  similar  source:  "When  the  spirit  leaves 
the  body  it  stands  or  floats  without  the  prone  dead  casket— intact  in 
itself— clothed  in  its  spirit  body,  which  has  been  evolved  from  the 
mortal,  of  which  it  has  been  the  spirit  counter-part."  .  .  .  "it 
can  as  readily  and  as  easily  exist  in  the  earth  atmosphere  when  with- 
out the  material  body  as  it  could  and  did  a  living  entity  in  a  mortal 
man;  and  the  home  of  earth-spirits  surrounds  and  includes  the  earth 
where  they  fust  took  on  consciousness." 

The  above  quotations  are  only  intended  to  point  out  the  fact  that 
in  this,  as  in  many  other  instances,  we  are  the  dupes  of  our  own 
nomenclature,  and  that  the  name  of  spiritualism,  in  so  far  as  it  awakes 
in  our  minds  an  antithesis  to  materialism  and  an  etfort  towards 
idealism,  is  a  misnomer,  if  applied  to  the  sect  so  termed  by  us;  for 
the  fundamental  tenets  of  its  faith  rest  upon  a  reversion  to  naturalism 
and  to  the  belief  that  life  and  soul-elements  can  be  subjected  to  human 
control  by  esoteric  means. 

1  will  not  go  further  into  the  closing  details  of  the  Funeral  Ritual. 
From  what  has  already  been  said  it  may  be  seen  that  it  was  a  long 
drawn  out  performance,  divided  into  many  scenes,  during  which  the 
principal  actors  repeatedly  altered  their  garb,  and  in  which  entered 
endless  repetitions  and  much  obscure  dialogue  containing  allusions  to 
ancient  myths.  Its  sole  merit  and  interest  lay  then,  as  it  does  now, 
in  the  faith  of  the  worshipers. 

When  concluded,  the  defunct  was  purified;  his  shadow  had  been 


*  The  Banner  of  Light,  July  iStli.  1891. 


306        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

returned  to  him;  the  eyes  and  mouth  of  his  Ka-statue  were  opened 
and  healed;  its  jaws  had  all  the  necessary  elasticity;  it  had  partaken 
of  the  funeral  feast;  and  the  priest,  by  the  imposition  of  hands  upon 
the  back  of  its  head,  had  brought  down  into  it  the  life-force  (Sa-en- 
Ankh).* 

When  left  in  possession  of  his  "eternal  dwelling,"  the  dead, 
well  supplied  with  comforts  and  luxuries  of  all  kinds,  and  surrounded 
by  the  scenes  and  friends  dearest  to  him,  was  fully  able  to  enjoy 
what  happiness  he  might  find  in  his  ghostly  existence.  He  was  then, 
as  he  is  called  in  the  Pyramid  of  Teti,  the  "  living  dead,"  or  more 
literally,  "he  who  is "  and  "  he  who  is  motionless."  t 

This  ancient  rite  is  perhaps  deserving  of  more  general  attention 
than  it  has  hitherto  received,  for  it  illustrates  very  fully,  and  lays 
before  us,  as  it  were,  in  a  crystallized  form,  a  phase  of  primitive 
thought  which  long  outlived  the  early  conditions  to  which  it 
properly  belonged,  and  gave  rise  to  many  practices  that  have  sur- 
vived, more  or  less  modified  in  their  details,  down  to  modern  times. 

Spells  somewhat  analogous,  and  wrought  in  order  to  accomplish 
a  similar  purpose,  are  found  among  widely  remote  races  in  a  low 
stage  of  culture.  To  mention  but  one  instance,  Castren  states  that, 
among  the  Finns,  rough  images  called  "  Paras  "  were  manufactured 
and  carried  nine  times  around  the  church  in  the  morning,  the  faithful 
muttering  all  the  while:  "  Live,  para." 

Then  the  "  Para"  began  to  live,  that  is,  a  spirit  or  Hastia  came 
to  lodge  within  it,  after  which  the  protection  of  the  fetish  over  the 
household  became  operative.  J 

Likewise  in  Egypt,  not  only  were  the  "  Ka  "-statues  of  the  dead 
thus  made  to  live,  but  the  divine  life  was  also  brought  down  into  the 
oracular  statue  of  the  gods. 

The  well-known  Stele  de  la  "Bibliotheque  U^ationale,  published  by 
De  Rouge,  has  taught  us  how  these  statues  might  be  multiplied,  each 
remaining  the  true  body  of  the  divinity  represented.     All  that  was 


*  Maspero  (loc.  cit.)  translates  the  Sotep-Sa  "  Le  passes  de  vie."  I  give  it  the 
value  "The  life-imparting  act,"  because  it  would  seem  from  the  Stele  de  la  Bibl. 
Nat.,  where  a  statue  is  said  to  perform  this  service  to  another  statue,  that  the 
result  might  be  obtained  by  the  imposition  of  the  hands  on  the  back  of  the 
head. 

f  Recueil  de  Trav.,  Vol.  V.,  1884.  Pjyr.  of  Teti,  L.  262,  "  Le  vivant  mort." 
Comp.  Maspero,  note,  p.  32. 

■\  Castren,  yorlesungcu,  etc.,  p.  166. 


AN  ANCIENT   EGYPTIAN   RITE.  307 

needed  was  that,  through  means  of  a  rite  performed  as  above  stated, 
the  original  idol  should  place  its  hand  upon  the  back  of  the  neck  of 
the  new  statue,  and,  performing  the  prescribed  act,  should  impart  to  it 
its  life.  After  this  the  new  statue  could  render  oracles,  heal  the 
sick,  perform  miracles;  in  a  word,  it  was  placed  in  full  possession  of 
the  divine  attributes:  it  was  an  idol.* 

A  passage  in  the  Hermes  Trismegistus  shows  that  this  belief, 
that  a  god  might  become  incarnate  in  an  artificial  body,  remained  a 
living  faith  at  least  as  late  as  the  end  of  the  Alexandrian  period. 
Greece,  Judea,  Egypt  and  Asia  all  contributed  a  share  to  what  has 
been  aptly  termed  the  extraordinary  "intellectual  chemistry"  which 
established  its  principal  laboratory  in  Alexandria,  and  which  revo- 
lutionized the  world  of  ideas.  Out  of  these  intellectual  elements, 
mixed  in  different  proportions,  resulted  various  religious  or  phil- 
osophical works,  which  had  more  or  less  influence  upon  their  epoch, 
and  many  of  which  represent  the  expression  of  as  many  religious 
sects  or  philosophical  schools. 

Among  these  works  the  Hermetic  books  embody  the  result  of 
the  grafting  of  the  Hellenic  spirit  upon  the  ancient  Egyptian  founda- 
tion, and  in  them  we  find  the  antique  mode  of  thought  in  its  last 
form,  and  about  to  abandon  its  recognized  sway  over  civilized  human- 
ity. The  portion  to  which  1  particularly  wish  to  refer,  the  Asklepios, 
was  preserved  in  Latin,  and  is  ascribed  to  the  end  of  the  Alexandrian 
age.  Its  doctrine,  /.  e.,  the  divine  unity  in  its  most  pantheistic  form, 
the  importance  of  the  sun  in  the  works  of  creation,  the  apotheosis  of 
the  sovereign,  whose  soul  is  mentioned  as  of  a  higher  substance,  a 
certain  naturalism  which  regards  all  living  things,  men  and  animals, 
as  partaking  of  the  same  nature,  and  especially  the  reasoned  idolatry 
which  formally  recognizes  and  explains  idols  as  a  natural  fact,  so  to 
speak,  make  of  these  books  the  last  expression  of  the  Egyptian  spirit. 

In  the  passage  referred  to  Hermes  says: 

"  The  species  of  gods  formed  by  humanity  is  composed  of  two 
natures:  one  divine— that  is  the  first  and  much  the  purer— the  other, 
which  belongs  to  man — that  is  the  material  of  which  these  gods  are 
formed." 

Asklepios  then  asks:  "Dost  thou  mean  the  statues,  O  Trisme- 


*  Vte.  Emmanuel  de  Roujj      itude  sur  une  Stile  Egyptienne  /Ipparttnant  <>  la 
"Bihhothdqiie  Natiottale,  Paris,  1858,  p.  110  and  following. 
Comp.  Maspero,  T^ituel  du  Sacrifice  Fundraire,  p.  18. 


308         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

gistus?"  And  he  answers:  "  Yes,  the  statues,  O  Asklepios.  See, 
what  little  faith  thou  hast.  The  statues  animated,  full  of  sentiment 
and  inspiration;  who  do  so  many  and  such  great  things;  the  prophetic 
statues,  who  predict  the  future  through  dreams  and  all  sorts  of 
other  means;  who  strike  us  down  with  disease,  or  cure  our  sufferings 
according  to  our  merits."  * 

In  the  anthropomorphism  of  such  a  faith  the  gods,  once  brought 
down  upon  earth,  were  only  superior  men;  to  them  were  attributed 
the  same  feelings,  the  same  needs,  that  must  be  catered  to  in  the 
same  way. 

Offerings  were  made  to  these  animated  statues;  they  were  puri- 
fied, dressed,  undressed  and  fed  according  to,  apparently,  very  much 
the  same  ritual  as  that  observed  with  regard  to  the  dead.  Hermes 
continues:  t  Terrestrial  gods  "  are  accessible  to  wrath  because  they 
are  formed  and  composed  by  men  outside  of  nature.  .  .  . 
Their  quality  consists  in  divine  virtue  that  naturally  exists  in  herbs, 
stones,  aromatic  substances;  that  is  why  they  like  frequent  sacri- 
fices, hymns  and  praise,  sweet  music  recalling  celestial  harmony; 
and  that  remembrance  of  heaven— conform  to  their  celestial  nature- 
attracts  them  and  retains  them  in  the  idols,  and  causes  them  to 
subject  themselves  to  a  prolonged  sojourn  among  men." 

As  may  be  seen,  in  all  this  there  entered  little  allegory:  it  was 
idolatry  in  the  narrowest  sense  of  the  word. 

In  the  primitive  belief  that,  by  means  of  certain  human  acts  per- 
formed with  a  certain  intention,  the  life  of  an  individual  or  that  of 
a  divinity  could  be  compelled  to  enter  a  certain  medium,  through 
which  it  might  be  subjected  to  human  control,  we  have  the  explana- 
tion of  the  close  relation  which  the  practices  and  legends  of  the 
ancients  imply  as  having  existed  in  their  minds  between  images  and 
the  personality  of  the  being  represented.  By  keeping  this  in  view,  a 
long  series  of  legends,  and  of,  to  us,  seemingly  senseless  folk-lore, 
receives  a  logical  explanation:  from  the  waxen  serpent  made  in  the 
image  of  the  evil  serpent  Apap  and  inscribed  with  his  name,  which 
the  Egyptians  burned  three  times  a  day  in  order  to  avert  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  storm, i  to  the  curious  Arab  legend  preserved  by  Macoudi, 


*  Hermes  Trisme'giste,  Ed.  Menant,  p.  146. 

f  Loc.  cit.,  p.  169. 

X  P\eyte,  Recneil  de  Travaux,  etc.,  \U.,  62-63.  The  same  idea  runs  beneath 
many  other  liturgical  acts  of  the  Egyptians.  For  instance,  in  order  to  enable 
the  defunct  to  overcome  his  antagonists  in  the  other  world,  a  waxen  image 


AN   ANCIENT   EGYPTIAN   RITE.  309 

and  according  to  which  Alexander  the  Great  obtained  control  over 
the  sea  monsters,  who  daily  interfered  with  the  building  of  Alexandria, 
by  having  their  portraits  taken,  after  which  they  disappeared  and 
allowed  the  work  to  proceed — from  the  poetic  legend  of  Pyonialion 
aftd  Galathea  to  the  part  played  in  ancient  religious  mysteries  by 
the  dough  images  of  the  gods,  which  were  carefully  manufactured 
according  to  stated  rules,  and  in  which,  no  doubt,  the  real  presence  of 
the  deity  was  thought  to  dwell.  In  the  Osirian  mysteries  these 
dough  images  were  used  to  represent  the  body  of  the  dead  god;  *  and 
it  is  probable  that  in  the  Kawanim  which,  according  to  Jeremiah, t  the 
women  of  Jerusalem  made  in  honor  of  the  queen  of  Heaven,  we  have 
a  tradition  the  origin  of  which  is  in  a  similar  way  connected  with 
the  Adonis  mysteries. 

The  custom  is  widespread;  it  is  found  upon  the  American  con- 
tinent and  is  met  with  among  the  Greeks  and  other  populations  of 
Europe,  in  whose  folk-lore  it  still  survives  in  a  modified  form. 

There  are  in  existence  some  curious  Egyptian  documents  known 
as  the  Turin,  Lee  and  Rollin  papyri,  which  date  about  the  twelfth 
century  B.C.,  and  which  supplement  each  other  in  furnishing  the 
details  of  certain  judiciary  proceedings  instituted  against  some  digni- 
taries and  members  of  the  household  of  Rameses  III.,  who  were 
accused  of  having  conspired  against  the  life  of  the  Pharaoh. 

In  the  evidence  it  appears  that  one  of  the  conspirators,  an  officer 
by  the  name  of  Pen-baiben,  having,  through  bribery,  possessed  him- 
self of  a  book  of  magic  lore  belonging  to  the  royal  library,  had,  with 
the  aid  of  the  potent  spells  therein  contained,  and  through  the  medium 
of  small  waxen  images,  obtained  full  control  over  the  guards  of  the 
royal  palace  with  evil  designs  upon  the  king.  For  these  nefarious 
practices  he  and  his  accomplices  were  sentenced  to  death. 

Strangely  enough,  precisely  similar  proceedings  were  instituted 
in  France  in  l300  against  Guichard,  Bishop  of  Troies,  who  was 
prosecuted  for  having  caused  the  death  of  Jeanne  de  Navarre,  the 
queen  of  Philip  IV.  It  was  claimed  that  at  his  instigation,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  a  hermit  and  a  witch,  a  waxen  image  had  been 


bearinjj  inscribed  upon  its  left  arm  the  name  of  Apap,  the  type  of  evil,  was  made 
according  to  a  specific  receipt,  cut  into  four  pieces  and  burned.  See  Deveria, 
Catal.  des  Manuscripts  Egjipliens  dii  Louvre,  1881,  VII.,  3;  No.  5353. 

*  Victor  Loret,  Feles  d'Osiris  au  Mois  de  Choiak.  Rec.  de  Tr.,  III.  vol., 'pp. 
43-57. 

f  VII.  18;  and  XIV.  19. 


310        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

made  and  baptized  in  due  form  with  a  god-father  and  a  god-mother, 
who  called  it  Jeanne;  after  which,  pins  having  been  stuck  in  the 
region  of  the  heart  of  this  image,  the  queen  shortly  expired.* 

This  is  by  no  means  the  only  instance  where  the  magic  spell, 
termed  "envoultement,"  is  known  to  have  played  a  gruesome  part  in 
modern  history.  The  most  notable  instance,  however,  occurred  in 
1574,  when  the  King  of  Navarre,  afterwards  Henry  IV.  of  France, 
and  his  brother,  the  Due  d'Alencon,  became  implicated  m  a  con- 
spiracy, as  a  result  of  which  men  of  high  rank  and  standing  at  the 
court  of  Charles  IX.  were  imprisoned,  racked  or  sent  to  the  scatfold. 
The  Duke's  friend,  M.  de  la  Mole,  was  put  to  the  torture  v/ith  a  view 
to  extracting  from  him  information  concerning  an  attempt  made  by 
the  conspirators  upon  the  life  of  the  French  king,  through  the  means 
of  an  Italian  necromancer  called  Ruggieri,  the  methods  used  being  a 
waxen  image  of  the  king  into  which  a  pin  was  stuck  in  the  region  of 
the  heart,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  monarch,  then  already 
attacked  by  the  singular  disease  of  which  he  soon  afterwards  died.t 

This  is,  I  think,  interesting  as  illustrating  the  persistency  of 
such  practices  and  their  revival  when  the  intellectual  conditions  of  a 
people  favor  their  renewed  development;  but  it  also  recalls  the  fact 
that,  although  the  ancient  faith  of  Egypt  received  its  death-blow  at 
the  hands  of  Theodosius  in  381  A.D,,  its  spirit  survived  long  after 
that  date. 

We  have  already  found  its  naturalism  lurking  at  the  basis  of  the 
Hermetic  books,  which  were  held  in  high  authority  by  the  Christian 
doctors,  who  turned  to  them  when,  in  their  polemics  against  the 
champions  of  ancient  philosophy,  they  became  anxious  to  tlnd  a 
support  for  their  innovations  in  the  hoary  wisdom  of  antiquity.  In 
the  year  400  A.D.  the  Bishop  of  Kyrene,  Synesios,  speaks  of  the 
means  used  by  the  Egyptians  to  compel  the  gods  to  do  their  bidding 
by  muttering  certain  words.  J  The  tombs  of  Beni-Hassan  were  in- 
habited until  quite  late  by  Christian  Copts,  who  used  one  of  them  as 
a  school-room,  and  left  there  their  grafitti.§  Sais,  one  of  the  great 
religious  centers  of  pagan  Egypt,  was  erected  into  a  Christian 
bishopric  in  the  third  century;  it  furnished  at  least  one  saint  and  a 
long  line  of  prelates,  among  whom  some  were  distinguished  lights  of 

*  Henri  Martin,  Hre.  de  France,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  50S. 

f  Henri  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  Vol.  XV.,  p.  377. 

:]:  Wiedeman,  Die  Religion  der  alien  /Egj'pter,  p.  145;  Munster,  l89l. 

§Dr.  Graves,  Proc.  Royal  Soe.  of  Antiq.  of  Ireland,  1891,  p.  346. 


AN   ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN   RITE.  3ll 

the  church.  It  retained  its  importance  as  a  bishopric  until  at  least 
the  Xlth  c^tury.*  Makrisy,  1360-1442,  who  mentions  it  several 
times,  states  that  its  territory  included  73  towns  without  counting  its 
villages. t  Many  ancient  Egyptian  temples  were  used  by  the  early 
Christians,  who  established  their  churches  therein;  and  the  Bishop  of 
Limerick,  Dr.  Graves,  has  pointed  out  that  Egyptian  monks  had 
left  traces  of  their  influence  upon  the  early  antiquities  of  Ireland. i 
I  believe  that  when  the  whole  subject  has  received  the  general  atten- 
tion which  it  deserves,  it  will  be  found  that  not  only  many  of  the 
ancient  symbols  and  religious  usages  of  Egypt  found  their  way  into 
Europe  through  the  African  church;  but  that  much  of  its  magico- 
scientitlc  lore  indirectly  penetrated  there  afterwards  with  the  close 
intercourse  which  the  Mohammedan  conquest,  the  crusades  and  the 
establishment  of  Western  principalities  in  the  east  brought  about.  We 
must  not  forget  that  the  very  name  of  the  black  art — alchemy— points 
to  such  an  origin. 

However  this  may  be,  the  whole  order  of  such  practices  as  imply 
a  belief  in  the  possibility  of  controlling  a  spirit,  or  have  for  object  the 
bringing  down  of  the  real  presence  of  a  divine  life  or  of  a  human 
personality  into  a  manufactured  object,  through  which  control  may 
be  obtained  over  the  life  thus  become  incarnate,  may  be  regarded  in  the 
light  of  secondary  or  tertiary  formations  at  the  basis  of  which  lies  the 
phase  of  human  thought  whose  origin  must  be  sought  in  a  survival 
of  primary  fetichism.§  And  this,  as  we  have  seen,  we  find,  as  it 
were,  crystallized  in  the  archaic  Egyptian  rite  which  we  have  just 
been  considering. 


*  Mallet,  Culie  de  Neit  h  Sais,  p.  65. 

•f  Quatremere,  {Memoire  Geog.  et  Hist,  sur  VEgypte,  I.,  291. 

^Dr.  Graves,  Proc.  of  the  T^ojal  Soc.  of  Aniiq.  of  Ireland,  t89l,  p.  346. 

§  Many  non-civilized  people  object  to  allowing  their  portraits  to  be  taken, 
or  even  to  telling  their  names,  for  fear  of  a  certain  occult  power  being  obtained 
by  this  means.     See  Reville,  Revue  de  VHistoire  des  Religions,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  94. 


A    CHAPTER    OF    ZUNI    MYTHOLOGY. 
BY    MATILDA   C.    STEVENSON. 

AT  a  time  when  all  nations  are  agitated  by  the  celebration  of 
the  discovery  of  a  new  world  by  Columbus,  it  seems  peculi- 
arly appropriate  to  study  the  character  of  the  people  occupy- 
ing this  continent  upon  his  landing.  To  those  interested  in  the 
humanities  this  glorious  picture  of  discovery  is  marred  with  a  touch 
of  pathos  that  a  race  spreading  in  such  numbers  over  our  territory, 
a  race  which  could  never  be  subjugated  into  slavery,  has,  during 
these  four  hundred  years,  been  driven  before  the  progress  of  civil- 
ization, not  only  from  their  homes  and  hunting-grounds,  but  from 
the  very  presence  of  their  gods.  Those  who  know  that  with  these 
peoples  almost  every  act  of  life  assumes  a  religious  character,  and 
that  every  mountain  of  their  land,  every  river,  every  spring  is 
directly  associated  with  their  gods,  must  feel  sympathy  for  them  and 
wonder  at  the  magnanimity  they  have  shown  their  white  oppressors. 
The  American  race  was  divided  into  many  tribes,  speaking  many 
languages  and  many  dialects,  and  there  are  still  many  such  divisions, 
but  numbers  of  tribes  in  our  territory  have  become  amalgamated  by 
coming  into  closer  proximity  as  they  were  driven  before  the  white 
race,  while  other  tribes  have  passed  away. 

A  number  of  tribes  of  our  Southwest  are  termed  pueblo  Indians, 
living  in  houses  built  of  stone  and  adobe. 

Explorers  of  the  past  decade  have  enlightened  the  world  with 
their  discoveries  of  pre-Columbian  ruins  distributed  over  portions  of 
Colorado,  Utah  and  the  entire  area  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 
These  ruins  have  been  classified  into  five  groups:  the  valley,  cliff, 
cave,  cavate  and  mesa  ruins.  The  valley  or  plain  ruins,  once  the 
homes  of  agricultural  peoples,  cover  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  Here 
they  lived  until,  driven  by  a  powerful  foe  from  their  happy  homes 
along  the  water-courses  and  by  the  springs,  they  sought  refuge  in 
cliffs  and  caves  of  canyon  walls.  Wherever  in  that  arid  land  a 
fountain  of  water  is  to  be  found  there  stands  a  pueblo  or  the  ruin  of 
a  pueblo.  This  mystic  land  reveals  to  the  archaeologist  a  touching 
tale;  the  niches  in  the  canyon  walls  are  filled  with  the  fame  of  the 
cliff-dwellers,  and  we  rebuild  in  imagination  the  worshiping-places 

312 


A  CHAPTER  OF  ZUNI   MYTHOLOGY.  3l3 

and  homes  whose  ruhis  remain  the  mute  yet  eloquent  witnesses  of  a 
people  long  passed  away.  Many  of  the  cliff  buildings  are  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation,  while  the  valley  homes  of  long  ago  are  but 
heaps  of  stones;  about  these  ruins  are  scattered  the  fragmentary 
lares  and  penates  of  a  remote  civilization. 

It  has  not  been  determined  how  many  generations  of  clifT- 
dwellers  lived  in  these  strange  retreats.  Some  of  these  places  have 
long  since  become  inaccessible,  owing  to  the  wearing  away  of  the 
approaches  by  the  same  elements  that  fashioned  the  recesses  of  the 
canyon  walls  which  served  as  foundations  for  their  worshiping-places, 
fortresses  and  homes.  When  the  cloud  of  war  grew  less  foreboding 
these  people  ventured  from  the  lofty  abodes,  where  their  trials  and 
privations  had  been  great,  and  built  themselves  homes  on  mesas — 
flat-topped  mountains  or  table  lands.  The  difficulties  of  the  mesa 
life  imposed  a  great  tax  upon  the  people;  the  fields  of  grain  were  far 
away  on  the  low  lands,  and  the  maidens  grew  weary  carrying  water 
up  the  steep  acclivities  from  the  springs  below,  and  after  a  time  many 
of  the  inhabitants  returned  to  the  plains  and  valleys,  erecting  dwell- 
ings upon  the  ruined  towns  of  their  forefathers,  thus  completing  a 
cycle;  and  many  such  cycles  may  have  occurred.  The  Tusayan 
Indians  of  Arizona,  a  group  of  the  Tewan  and  the  Acoma  of  New 
Mexico  are  the  only  tribes  now  living  upon  these  high  plateaus  in  our 
own  territory;  but  cliff-dwellers  still  exist  in  remote  regions  of 
Mexico. 

The  earliest  history  we  have  of  the  pueblo  Indians  dates  back  to 
the  year  l53o.  Spanish  adventurers  penetrated  the  country  and  re- 
turned with  extravagant  accounts  of  these  people  and  their  wealth; 
and  a  series  of  general  and  systematic  invasions  followed  for  their 
conquest,  and  these  continued  from  time  to  time  until  the  Hidalgo 
treaty  of  1848.  According  to  the  accounts  of  the  invaders  there  were 
between  eighty  and  one  hundred  of  these  pueblos;  at  present  there 
are  some  thirty-two.  The  villages  are  all  of  the  same  general  type. 
The  people,  although  possessing  common  characteristics  and  follow- 
ing similar  pursuits,  and  although  strikingly  alike  in  physical  structure, 
belong  to  four  distinct  stocks:  Shoshonean,  Keresan,  Tanoan  and 
Zunian.     It  is  of  the  Zuni  that  1  shall  now  speak. 

The  tribe  is  divided  into  clans,  descent  being  through  the  maternal 
side,  and  though  the  children  in  a  sense  belong  to  the  mother,  the 
father  is  far  from  an  unprivileged  person,  and  his  position  toward 
the  child  is  hardly  less  important  than  the  mother's.     One  must  not 


314         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

marry  a  member  of  the  mother's  clan,  neither  is  it  admissible  to 
marry  into  the  father's  clan,  I  have  witnessed  more  than  one  love- 
making  in  Zuni,  and  in  essentials  it  does  not  ditfer  widely  from  that 
experienced  by  our  own  youths  and  maidens.  I  call  to  mind  a  couple 
whose  love  was  not  sanctioned  by  the  girl's  parents,  and,  though  they 
determined  that  she  should  not  meet  this  lover,  she  managed  to  glide 
by  the  well  to  her  trysting-place  each  day  at  eventide,  the  hour  v/hen 
the  maidens  gather  to  fill  their  water  vases,  which  they  carry,  Egyp- 
tian-like, upon  their  heads,  and  when  they  exchange  their  bits  of 
gossip.  When  I  discovered  them  one  autumn  evening  in  the  gloam- 
iug  the  youth  was  endeavoring  to  take  the  maiden's  hand,  and  she  was 
objecting  with  her  lips,  but  bidding  him  take  courage  with  her  be- 
witching eyes,  whose  luster  the  shadows  of  evening  could  not  veil. 

There  are  many  real  love  matches,  while  others  are  prudential 
marriages,  v/hich  are,  of  course,  arranged  by  the  elders  of  the  girl's 
family.  It  has  been  suggested  that  in  Zuni  the  girl  takes  the  initial 
step  in  love-making.  On  the  contrary,  these  people  hold  such  for- 
wardness on  the  part  of  their  women  much  as  we  regard  the  husband- 
seeker.  The  woman  indicates  her  satisfaction  at  the  call  of  a  suitor 
by  ofifering  him  a  draft  of  cool  water  and  food.  If  she  hesitates, 
owing  to  her  uncertainty  or  her  coquettish  desire  to  excite  anxiety 
within  the  breast  of  her  lover,  she  is  reminded  of  her  duty  by  either 
the  father  or  mother,  should  the  young  man  be  desired  for  a  son-in- 
law. 

While  their  system  of  government  is  characteristic  of  a  primitive 
state  of  culture,  it  is,  nevertheless,  quite  complete  as  far  as  it  goes, 
meeting  the  requirements  of  the  established  authority.  While  we 
profess  to  mete  out  justice  to  the  accused,  primitive  law  makes  no 
such  pretension.  The  rich  and  prominent  man  is  favored;  the  poor 
and  despised  must  suffer  to  the  full  extent  of  the  law.  The  governor, 
who  has  a  staff  of  assistants,  is  ex-ofticio  the  judge,  before  whom  are 
tried  all  persons  charged  with  ordinary  otTenses.  In  more  important 
cases  the  six  zAhshiivanni  (rain-priests)  are  present  and  interfere  if  in 
their  judgment  the  governor  fails  in  a  proper  decision.  Witchcraft  is 
always  tried  by  the  priest  of  the  Society  of  the  Bow  and  his  associ- 
ates. The  chance  for  a  sorcerer's  life  is  the  relating  of  some  marvel- 
ous story  sufficient  to  impress  the  judges  of  his  occult  knowledge  of 
medicine. 

The  earth  is  watered  by  the  deceased  Zuni  of  both  sexes,  who 
are  controlled  and  directed  by  a  council  composed  of  ancestral  gods. 


A   CHAPTER   OF   ZUNI   MYTHOLOGY.  3l5 

These  shadow-people  collect  water  in  vases  and  gourd  jugs  from  the 
six  great  waters  of  the  world,  and  pass  to  and  fro  over  the  middle 
plane,  protected  from  view  of  the  people  below  by  cloud  masks,  the 
clouds  being  produced  by  smoke;  and  when  it  is  understood  that,  the 
greater  the  smoke  offering,  the  greater  the  inducement  for  the 
rain-makers  to  work,  it  is  not  surprising  that  smoking  is  one  of  the 
conspicuous  features  of  Zuni  ritual. 

The  Ahshiwanni,  a  priesthood  of  fourteen  men  who  fast  and 
pray  for  rain,  the  Kokko,  an  organization  bearing  the  name  of  an- 
thropomorphic beings  (principally  ancestral)  whom  they  personate, 
and  thirteen  esoteric  societies  are  the  three  fundamental  religious 
bodies  of  Zuni.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  religion  and 
sociology  of  these  people  are  so  interwoven  that  the  one  cannot  be 
studied  without  the  other. 

The  Society  of  the  Kokko  personate  anthropomorphic  gods  by 
wearing  masks  and  other  paraphernalia.  There  are  six  estufas  or 
chambers  of  the  Kokko  for  the  six  regions:  the  north,  west,  south, 
east,  zenith  and  nadir,  and  these  rooms  present  fantastic  scenes  when 
the  primitive  drama  is  enacted  by  the  personators  of  these  anthro- 
pomorphic gods.  The  costumes  worn  at  such  time  are  quite  elaborate 
and  of  artistic  design.  As  soon  as  the  mask  is  donned  the  actor  loses 
his  identity  as  a  man,  his  body  becoming  the  abiding-place  of  the  god 
he  personates. 

The  esoteric  societies,  with  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  have 
nothing  to  do  with  anthropomorphic  beings,  this  category  of  gods 
being  zoomorphic.  These  societies  deal  essentially  with  the  anagogics 
of  medicine,  feats  with  fire,  knives,  arrows  and  general  legerdemain. 

The  medicine  practices  are  for  extracting  disease  intlicted  by  the 
sorcery  of  men  or  of  the  lower  animals.  The  other  performances  are 
to  bring  rain  and  snow.  No  society  convenes  without  giving  much 
time  to  invocations  for  rain,  not,  however,  appealing  directly  to  the 
sun-father,  their  supreme  deity,  and  to  the  rain-makers,  as  the  four- 
teen rain  priests  do,  but  to  the  beast-gods  of  their  worship,  to  inter- 
cede with  the  sun-father  and  rain-makers. 

A  complete  system  of  rain  cult  has  been  instituted  by  these 
people  of  an  arid  land,  for  in  a  region  where  the  rain  seldom  falls  the 
greatest  boon  to  man  seems  to  come  from  the  clouds.  At  the  winter 
and  summer  solstices  synchronal  meetings  of  most  of  these  societies 
are  held,  and  also  at  other  times.  The  members  of  a  society  meet 
for  a  number  f«f  nights  previous  to  the  ceremonial  to  rehearse  their 


316        THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

songs,  which,  however,  are  not  begun  until  late  in  the  evening,  the 
earlier  part  being  devoted  to  relating  epic  stories— at  least  this  used  to 
be  the  custom,  but  at  the  present  time  the  glowing  accounts  of  the 
feats  of  their  war-gods  and  experiences  with  the  hated  Navajo  have 
been  replaced  by  tales  of  the  wrongs  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the 
white  man.  The  women  and  children  as  well  as  the  men  are  devotees 
in  their  observances  of  the  practices  of  their  societies. 

The  Zuni  are  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  people,  maize  being 
their  staple  article.  Every  color  and  shade  of  corn  may  be  found, 
these  primitive  agriculturists  having  observed  the  greatest  care  in  the 
development  of  varieties.  The  reds  range  from  the  richest  cardinal 
to  the  faintest  blush  of  pink,  and  a  similar  variety  of  shades  runs 
through  the  blues,  yellows  and  purples.  They  have  pure  white  and 
black,  and  the  variation  in  the  individual  ears  is  remarkable.  Almost 
the  same  variety  of  color  is  to  be  found  among  the  beans.  All  this 
care  of  propagation  has  a  religious  significance.  They  do  not 
attribute  the  introduction  of  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  to  Europeans, 
but  to  the  creative  power  of  their  culture  hero. 

It  is  only  by  long  and  intimate  relations  with  these  people  that 
one  may  gather  correct  data  of  their  religion  and  sociology.  They 
are  so  hospitable,  so  ready  to  serve  others  in  many  ways,  yet  so 
reticent,  so  diplomatic,  that  one  might  live  much  in  their  midst  with- 
out knowing  anything  of  their  real  life. 

Zuni  is  built  upon  a  knoll  in  a  broad  valley  walled  by  picturesque 
mesas  of  red  and  white  sandstone,  and  on  the  site  of  a  village  which 
they  deserted  during  a  flood  to  flee  to  a  mesa  near  by  for  safety, 
according  to  their  account.  Although  this  table-land  is  several 
hundred  feet  above  the  valley,  yet,  according  to  Zuni  tradition,  the 
waters  reached  nearly  to  the  summit  of  the  mesa,  and  in  the  dire 
extremity  the  rain-priests  determined  to  sacrifice  a  youth  and  maiden 
in  order  to  propitiate  the  angry  waters.  The  two  were  dressed  in 
their  most  beautiful  clothes  and  adorned  with  many  necklaces  of 
turkis  and  other  precious  beads,  and  cast  into  the  waters.  The  offer- 
ing stayed  the  calamity,  and  the  victims  were  turned  to  stone,  and  are 
to  be  seen  in  a  columnar  rock  broken  near  the  top  into  two  parts 
which  are  capped  with  head-like  forms.  These  are  called  the  father 
and  mother  rocks.  This  reference  to  the  casting  of  the  two  into  the 
waters  leads  to  the  inference  that  at  some  period  in  the  past  human 
sacrifice  was  practiced  by  these  people. 

Zuni  is  the  name  given  by  the  Spaniards;  they  call  themselves 


A  CHAPTER  OF  ZUNI  MYTHOLOGY.  3 17 

"Ah-shi-wi,"  meaning  all  people,  reference  being  to  themselves  alone. 

The  natural  impulse  of  the  human  mind  is  to  seek  for  truth  and 
to  account  for  the  phenomena  of  nature,  and  thus  philosophy  grows. 
Mythologic  philosophy  is  the  fruit  of  the  struggle  for  knowledge  of 
cause.  The  reasoning  of  aboriginal  peoples  is  by  analogy,  for  at  this 
stage  of  culture  science  is  yet  unborn.  So  the  philosopher  of  early 
times  is  the  myth-maker.  The  philosophy  of  primitive  peoples  is 
the  progenitor  of  natural  religion,  and  religion  is  invented  through 
long  processes  of  analogic  reasoning.  The  Zunian  belongs  to  this 
stage  of  culture.  He  is  conscious  of  the  earth  he  treads  upon,  but  he 
does  not  know  its  form;  he  knows  something  of  what  the  earth  con- 
tains beneath  its  surface,  of  the  rivers,  the  mountains,  the  sun,  moon 
and  all  celestial  bodies  of  the  solar  system  to  be  discerned  without 
the  optical  inventions  of  man;  he  sees  the  lightning,  hears  the  thunder, 
feels  the  winds  and  knows  the  value  of  rains  and  snows;  he  is 
acquainted  with  the  beasts  of  the  forests,  the  birds  and  insects  of  the 
air,  the  fishes  of  the  rivers,  and  knows  that  these  living  things  possess 
attributes  not  attainable  by  himself,  and  so  he  endows  these  animals 
with  superior  or  supernatural  qualities.  When  one  becomes  ill  from 
any  other  cause  than  that  of  a  wound  it  is  attributed  to  some  foreign 
element  thrust  into  the  body  and  beyond  his  power  to  overcome. 
Nothing  is  left  him  then  but  to  appeal  to  the  creatures  of  superior 
qualities,  and  thus  a  system  of  theurgism  develops,  when  religion  and 
medicine  become  a  sort  of  dualism,  for  the  animals  of  his  worship 
are  his  doctors,  acting  through  the  agency  of  the  theurgist.  These 
theurgists  are  the  destroyers  of  evil  inflicted  by  sorcery;  they  have  no 
power  within  themselves  to  avert  such  evil;  in  dealing  with  sorcery 
of  man  they  must  first  become  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the 
beast-gods  of  the  cardinal  points — theZuni  having  relegated  the  cougar 
to  the  north,  the  bear  to  the  west,  the  badger  to  the  south,  and  the 
white  wolf  to  the  east.  Now,  in  order  that  the  theurgist  should  heal 
his  patient,  this  foreign  object  in  the  body  must  be  extracted,  and  the 
means  adopted  to  this  end  is  curious.  The  lips  are  applied  to  the 
flesh,  and  the  disease  is  drawn  out  by  sucking.  This  process  of  suck- 
ing to  cure  disease  is  not  confined  to  the  Zuni,  but  is  common  among 
aboriginal  peoples  of  the  world,  differing  only  in  minor  details. 

A  theurgist  must  be  a  person  regularly  initiated  into  a  medicine 
order  of  a  secret  society  and  may  be  either  man  or  woman.  All  but 
one  or  two  of  the  thirteen  esoteric  societies  comprise  several  orders, 
that   of    medicine   being  considered   the   most   important   division. 


3 18         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Though  young  children  of  both  sexes  enter  this  order,  they  do  not 
practice  healing  until  in  the  opinion  of  elder  theurgists  they  have 
reached  years  of  discretion,  when  they  become  members  of  the  first 
degree.  At  these  ceremonies  of  initiation  a  sand-painting  is  one  of 
the  prominent  features.  A  ground  color  of  sand  is  laid  upon  the  floor 
in  front  of  the  slat  altar  and  made  perfectly  smooth,  and  upon  this 
figures  are  delineated  by  sprinkling  powdered  mineral  pigment  from 
between  the  thumb  and  fingers.  These  paintings,  of  more  or  less 
elaborateness,  are  common  among  all  the  pueblo  Indians,  the  Navajo, 
the  Mission  Indians  of  California  and  tribes  of  the  north,  and  are  all 
used  in  connection  with  medicine  practices.  I  cannot  say  how  wide- 
spread the  observance  of  sand-painting  is,  but  the  low-caste  people  of 
India  design  their  gods  in  sand  paintings  on  the  ground  by  sprinkling 
in  the  same  way,  and  they  also  have  sprinkling-cups  for  the  purpose. 
Unlike  our  Indians,  they  do  not  have  a  ground  color  of  sand,  but 
spread  the  surface  with  diluted  chips  of  the  sacred  cow.  The  high 
castes  have  greatly  elaborated  the  sand-paintings,  which  are  used  by 
them  purely  for  decoration.  This  same  feature  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Renaissance,  when  the  tables  of  the  French  were  bordered  in  elaborate 
designs  with  powdered  marbles.  If  I  have  digressed  from  the  main 
subject  it  is  because  it  seems  a  point  of  interest  to  note  at  what  remote 
regions  of  the  globe  the  custom  of  sand-painting  is  observed. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  mission  of  the  theurgist,  acting 
as  the  agent  of  the  beast-gods,  is  to  extract  the  object  which  causes 
disease,  and  much  sleight  of  hand  is  brought  into  practice,  especially 
at  regular  meetings,  when  patients  gather  in  large  numbers  in  the 
ceremonial  chamber  to  be  healed  of  real  or  imaginary  disease. 

Our  concepts  of  the  universe  are  altogether  different  from  those 
of  primitive  man;  we  understand  natural  phenomena  through  philo- 
sophical laws,  while  he  accounts  for  them  by  analogy;  we  live  in  a 
world  of  reality,  he  in  a  world  of  mysticism  and  symbolism;  he  is 
deeply  impressed  by  his  natural  environment,  every  object  with  him 
possessing  a  spiritual  Ufe,  so  that  celestial  bodies,  mountains,  rocks, 
the  flora  of  the  earth  and  the  earth  itself  are  to  him  quite  different 
from  what  they  are  to  us.  The  sturdy  pine,  delicate  sapling,  fragrant 
blossom,  giant  rock  and  tiny  pebble  play  alike  their  part  in  the  mystic 
world  of  aboriginal  man.  Many  things  which  tend  to  nourish  life 
are  symbolized  by  the  Zuni  as  mother.  When  the  Zuni  speak  of  the 
earth-mother,  they  symbolize  the  earth  as  the  source  of  all  vegetal 
matter  which  not  only  nourishes  man,  but  which  also  supports  the 


A  CHAPTER  OF  ZUNl   MYTHOLOGY.  3l9 

game  which  gives  animal  food  to  man.  The  earth  is  mother,  the 
great  one  to  whom  they  are  indebted  for  sustenance.  Ancestors  are 
passing  to  and  fro  over  the  middle  plane  hidden  by  the  cloud  masks. 
The  character  of  the  clouds  influences  Zuni  thought  concerning  them. 
If  the  clouds  are  white  and  fleecy  the  shadow-people  are  passing  about 
for  pleasure.  Heavy  rain  clouds  indicate  that  the  shadow-people  will 
water  the  earth;  but  there  is  a  proviso.  The  smoke  offerings  which 
produce  the  clouds  may  have  been  sufficient,  but  this  is  not  all:  the 
daily  life,  especially  of  their  priests,  must  be  such  as  not  to  offend 
the  council  of  ancestral  gods  which  controls  and  directs  the  rain- 
makers, for,  should  such  be  the  case,  the  council  would  withhold  its 
power,  and,  in  doing  so,  would  leave  evil-beings  free  to  use  their 
power,  and  those  who  send  the  cold  winds  would  drive  away  the  cloud 
masks.     Thus  the  Zuni  account  for  wind  clouds. 

These  people  rarely  cast  their  eyes  upward  without  invoking  the 
rain-makers,  for  in  this  arid  land  rain  is  the  prime  object  of  prayer; 
their  water  vases  are  covered  in  cloud  and  rain  emblems,  the  water  in 
the  vase  symbolizing  the  life  or  soul  of  the  vase. 

The  cereals  distributed  by  the  personators  of  ancestral  gods  are 
recognized  by  the  intelligent  as  symbolizing  only  the  blessings  which 
they  desire  and  anticipate,  yet  each  person  receives  the  gift  with  the 
same  solemnity,  and  plants  it  with  the  same  reverence  as  if  it  actually 
came  from  the  god  of  cereals  in  the  under  world.  While  their  gods 
preserve  from  evil  they  also  bring  evil;  they  bring  plenty  or  want  at 
harvest  time.  Thus  the  gods  are  supposed  to  hold  within  their  power 
all  prosperity  and  all  adversity,  and  by  means  of  ceremonies  and 
many  prescribed  observances  the  gods  are  induced  to  preserve  from 
evil  and  bring  happiness.  Thus  the  daily  life  of  the  Zuni  is  so  con- 
trolled that  every  act  of  life  assumes  something  of  a  religious  char- 
acter, and  although  their  religion  is  fraught  with  much  fear,  and 
although  their  trials  and  hardships  in  the  observance  of  the  cult  in 
which  all  their  hopes  and  ambitions  are  centered  are  many  and  severe, 
from  early  childhood  to  old  age,  they  feel  great  pride  in  the  long  and 
tedious  rituals  of  their  esoteric  societies,  and  real  joy  in  personating 
their  anthropomorphic  gods  when  they  join  in  the  rhythm  of  song 
and  dance. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  SYMBOLISM  OF  CENTRAL  AMERICA  AND 
ITS  WIDE  DISTRIBUTION. 

BY  FRANCIS   PARRY,   F.R.G.S.    (ENG.) 

[Abstract.] 

AFTER  referring  to  the  saying  of  the  Mayas  that  "  they  were 
the  sons  of  the  trees,"  and  stating  that  the  tree  emblem 
existed  among  the  sacred  forms  reverenced  later  by  the 
Aztecs,  who  designated  it  "the  tree  of  our  life,"  or  "the  tree  of 
our  flesh,"  the  paper  mentioned  that  the  emblem  is  observable  in 
each  division  of  the  Maltese  cross  calendar  of  the  hieratic  manuscript 
of  the  Mayas  known  as  the  Fejerday  Codex,  in  closest  association 
with  the  cherished  emblems  of  their  religion.  It  was  stated  further 
that  the  two  living  principles  or  natural  forces  displayed  separately  on 
the  slab  from  Palemke,  deposited  in  the  National  Museum  of  Mexico, 
the  life  of  man  and  the  vegetable  kingdom,  are  on  the  sacred  Maya 
Stone  of  Mexico  each  assigned  a  place.  In  the  cruciform,  almost 
tree-like  form  of  the  larger  so-called  altar  slabs  of  Palemke,  they  are 
combined;  as  the  Ahan,  the  lord  of  the  life  of  men,  is  a  part  of  the 
stem  and  is  dove-tailed  into  one  piece  with  a  symbol  universally 
employed  to  represent  vegetation  or  the  force  producing  it.  The 
Maya  hieratic  symbol  Ahan  embodies  the  three  principles  of  life, 
those  found  in  the  sexes  and  the  vegetable  germ,  the  former  com- 
prising the  continuity  of  the  existence  of  men,  animals,  insects,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  the  air  and  water.  It  is  common  in  the  manu- 
scripts, and  is  freely  employed  as  a  hieroglyphic  and  as  a  symbol. 
When  used  as  a  hieroglyphic,  the  Ahan  frequently  has  its  three  dots 
removed  to  the  outside  lower  edge,  and  they  are  used  alone  either 
grouped  in  a  triangular  or  in  a  lineal  manner,  and  may  be  observed 
in  multiples  or  as  the  original  three  on  the  majority  of  the  Maya 
monuments,  where  they  denote  plenty,  fecundity.  The  three-dot 
symbol  may  be  seen  on  the  Costa  Rica  and  Zuni  pottery,  and  on 
native  stones  for  grinding  corn  in  actual  use  by  the  mission  Indians 
of  California,  in  the  latter  instance  undoubtedly  denoting  ' '  abund- 
ance," or  a  desire  for  it. 

Another  symbol  occasionally  occurring  appears  to  accord  with 
part  of  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Ahan.  It  closely  resembles  the 
Chinese  sign  which  symbolizes  the  two  natural  forces,  the  Yun  and 

320 


THE   RELIGIOUS   SYMBOLISM   OF  CENTRAL   AMERICA.  321 

the  Yin,  the  male  and  the  female.  The  symbol  is  on  a  Santa  Lucia 
slab  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  and  is  among  the  symbols  on  the 
monoliths  of  Copan,  the  largest  known  being  there  on  a  circular  so- 
called  altar  five  feet  in  diameter,  where  it  covers  the  entire  mass,  with 
the  exception  of  a  serpent  border. 

Yet  another  symbol  occurs  synonymous  with  these.  It  is  taken 
from  the  form  of  a  springing  calibash  plant,  that  is,  the  erect  sprout, 
and  is  employed  oftentimes  in  the  place  of  Ahan  to  portray  the  three 
principles  of  life.  The  renowned  Palemke  cross  has  this  rival  emblem 
incorporated  into  its  stem;  a  large  specimen  in  sculpture  is  among 
the  recent  acquisitions  at  Cambridge,  Mass. ;  and  it  survives  among 
the  Aztecs.  The  Copan  stellar  are  really  the  representations  of  the 
emblems,  three  in  number,  here  treated  of,  with  varieties  of  them, 
massed  together,  in  combination  with  other  two  principal  emblems 
and  their  varieties. 

The  fourth  emblem  was  the  sun,  the  heat-and-light-giver.  His 
symbols  were  in  many  cases  masks,  and  throughout  the  whole  central 
region  these  were  worn  by  the  priests  on  certain  occasions  until  recent 
times.  One  sculptured  form  of  mask  had  a  shape  so  like  a  skull  as 
to  be  mistaken  for  one.  Another  skull-like  mask  is,  both  in  the 
manuscripts  and  in  carving,  shown  with  clawed  feet,  an  accompani- 
ment quite  in  order  with  the  historical  development  of  the  symbol  as 
recorded  on  the  sacred  stone. 

Lastly,  an  equal-limbed  cross,  of  the  Greek  form,  was  wor- 
shipped by  the  natives  of  Merida,  and  at  Palemke  was  another 
cruciform,  on  the  slabs  of  a  temple  or  shrine  built  on  a  pyramid, 
which  had  the  semblance  to  the  true  cross,  because,  although  of  equal 
limbs,  it  overlaid,  or  rather  was  incorporated  into,  the  tree  form. 
The  Palemke  cross  has  arms,  the  terminals  of  which  are  grecques 
that  with  grotesque  contortions  make  the  heads  of  serpents.  The 
Greek  cross  and  the  serpent  were  inseparable  and  manifestations  of 
one  idea,  both  being  symbols  of  the  God  of  the  Air,  who  was  per- 
sonified by  the  rattle-snake,  and  obtained  the  appellation  of  the 
Plumed  Serpent. 

In  conclusion,  the  paper  stated  that  unanimity  marks  the  ancient 
people  of  America  in  the  matter  of  religious  belief,  and  that  in  sur- 
veying the  past  history  of  the  religion  of  the  Five  principles,  there  is 
some  satisfaction  in  claiming  for  it  a  distinct  place,  and  being  able  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  of  independent  growth  and  purely 
American. 


MUSEUM  COLLECTIONS  TO  ILLUSTRATE  RELIGIOUS 
HISTORY  AND  CEREMONIALS. 

BY  CYRUS   ADLER. 

MUSEUM  collections  perform  a  double  funcrion.  They  instruct 
the  public  and  they  furnish  material  for  the  investigator. 
They  render  the  reading  of  books  more  intelligible,  and  their 
writing  more  accurate.  Infinitely  more  than  the  popular  illustrated 
magazine  or  scientific  monthly  are  they  the  means  of  communication 
between  the  average  man  and  the  scholar. 

The  study  of  religious  history  and  ceremonial  institutions  stands 
on  a  footing  different  from  that  of  any  other  branch  of  knowledge. 
Political  history,  though  in  a  lesser  degree,  suffers  under  similar 
disadvantages. 

The  study  of  biology  or  the  physical  sciences  is  approached  with 
no  predisposition.  Their  terminology  is  arbitrarily  given,  and  the 
errors  of  their  followers  are  due  to  infirmity  of  the  powers  of  obser- 
vation or  generalization. 

The  study  of  political  history,  no  matter  how  scientific  the  spirit 
in  which  it  be  approached,  is  influenced  by  an  emotion — that  worthy 
emotion  known  as  patriotism,  for  which  men  sacrifice  life,  health 
and  fortune.  An  emotion  even  stronger  is  religion;  its  influence  is 
second  only  to  that  of  domestic  affection,  and  sometimes  overcomes 
it;  its  lessons  are  the  earliest  instilled  into  the  mind;  none  escapes 
its  influence.  Even  with  unusual  precautions  in  the  case  of  a  human 
being  bereft  of  most  of  the  avenues  of  perception  religious  teaching 
could  not  be  excluded.* 

All  modern  literatures  presuppose  a  definite  belief,  and  the  creeds 
which  differ  therefrom  are  described  in  terms  which  carry  a  derog- 
atory implication,  t 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  if  the  public  is  to  be  taught  the 
history  of  religion  or  religious  ceremonies,  it  will  be  most  advisable 

*  Laura  Bridgman. 

f  This  sometimes  occurs  as  a  result  of  scientific  prejudice;  witness  the  plac- 
ing by  Paolo  Mantegazza  of  many  religious  objects  under  the  headings  of  super- 
stitioin  and  crneUj>  in  the  Museo  Psychologico  at  Florence. 

322 


MUSEUM  COLLECTIONS.  323 

to  approximate  the  methods  of  those  branches  of  study  in  which  the 
knowledge  is  acquired  for  its  own  sake,  without  thought  of  profes- 
sional use  or  partisan  advantage,  simply  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
mental  horizon  of  the  individual,  and  the  increased  mental  power 
thereby  attained. 

Modern  investigation  and  modern  teaching  are  based  upon  phen- 
omena. Science  deals  with  objects  and  phenomena;  it  collects  them, 
describes  them,  and  classifies  them.  A  few  great  men  in  the  world 
generalize;  speculation,  acknowledged  to  be  such,  is  out  of  fashion. 

This  tendency  of  investigation  to  deal  with  phenomena  has 
reacted  upon  all  forms  and  grades  of  instruction,  the  higher  as  well 
as  the  popular.  It  has  given  the  impulse  to  and  shaped  the  growth 
of  the  highest  modern  method  of  popular  instruction— "  the  most 
powerful  and  useful  auxiliary  of  all  systems  of  teaching  by  object 
lessons,"  * — the  educational  museum. 

Religious  history  and  ceremonial  have  been  the  very  last  to 
profit  by  the  awakened  impulse  acquired  through  the  museum  and 
the  general  exhibition. 

The  first  museum  established  solely  for  the  collection  and  pres- 
ervation of  objects  having  to  do  with  religion  was  the  Muse'e  Guimet, 
founded  at  Lyons  in  1879  by  M.  Emile  Guimet,  on  his  return  from 
the  mission  entrusted  to  him  by  the  French  Ministry  of  Public  In- 
struction, to  study  the  religions  of  the  extreme  Orient.  The  collec- 
tion thus  assembled  is  the  largest  and  best  single  collection  of  objects 
relating  to  religion  ever  put  together.  It  has  occasioned  the  publica- 
tion of  a  series  of  volumes  which  form  by  far  the  most  remarkable 
contributions  yet  produced  to  the  scientific  study  of  religions. 

In  1885  this  museum  was  removed  to  Paris,  a  special  building 
erected  for  it,  and  it  is  now  included  among  the  series  of  museums 
under  government  control. 

But,  in  spite  of  the  splendid  character  of  the  collections  and  the 
great  impetus  they  have  given  to  scientitic  research,  the  Museum  has 
serious  weaknesses  which  should  not  be  overlooked.  The  general 
classification  as  well  as  the  special  arrangement  are  defective  from 
the  point  of  view  of  a  museum  of  religions. 

Geographical  considerations  have  dictated  the  general  classifica- 
tion, so  that  the  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Indian  Buddhism,  for  example, 

» Dr.  G.   Brown   Goode,  Museums  of  the  Future.      Report  U.  S.  CKatioiial 
Museum,  1889,  p.  427. 


324         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

are  shown  out  of  relation  to  one  another.  ^Esthetic  considerations 
have  directed  the  arrangement  of  the  groups  themselves;  the  special 
objects  are  in  the  main  without  labels,  making  the  use  of  the  printed 
guide,  always  tiresome  and  distracting,  an  absolute  necessity  for  the 
general  visitor.  So  strongly  has  the  aesthetic  arrangement  pre- 
dominated that  I  am  informed  the  character  of  the  museum  is 
to  be  changed,  and  that  in  future  it  will  be  devoted  to  Oriental 
art. 

The  most  serious  fault  of  the  museum,  however,  is  that  it  fails 
to  furnish  an  intelligent  train  of  thought  to  the  mind  of  the  average 
visitor.  The  real  method  of  popular  education  consists  in  imparting 
the  unknown  in  terms  of  the  known.  Just  as  the  scientific  investi- 
gator obtains  results  by  the  comparison  of  facts  and  phenomena, 
does  the  museum  visitor  have  his  interest  awakened  by  the  oppor- 
tunity of  comparing  familiar  objects  with  those  brought  to  his  knowl- 
edge for  the  first  time.  From  the  point  of  view  of  popular  education 
it  is,  therefore,  a  capital  error  that  the  Musee  Guimet  has  not  included 
the  Christian  religion,  as  well  as  the  Mohammedan  and  Jewish 
religions,  with  which  the  first  named  has  such  close  affiliations,  in 
the  series  which  it  places  on  exhibition.  Many  museums  contain 
objects  which  would  find  place  in  a  collection  of  religions.  These 
are  usually  installed  in  ethnological  exhibits,  and  more  frequently  still 
are  shown  as  objects  of  art. 

In  a  few  museums  religious  art  is  treated  as  a  distinct  subject, 
and,  being  arranged  chronologically,  may  be  considered  as  showing 
the  development  of  both  church  history  and  religious  symbolism. 
The  most  important  of  these  is  the  Lateran  Museum  at  Rome.  In 
1843  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  set  apart  the  Palazzo  del  Laterano  as  a 
museum  for  heathen  and  Christian  antiquities,  styling  it  Museum 
Gregorianum  Lateranense.  The  Christian  Museum  was  founded  by 
Pius  IX.  It  contains  a  most  valuable  collection,  including  a  series  of 
early  Christian  inscriptions  arranged  by  De  Rossi. 

The  National  Bavarian  Museum  at  Munich  contains  a  rich  col- 
lection of  Christian  ecclesiastical  art,  as  well  as  a  goodly  series  of 
Jewish  religious  objects. 

The  Arab  Museum  in  Cairo,  although  not  erected  from  the  point 
of  view  of  religions,  is  yet  to  a  considerable  extent  a  collection  of 
Mohammedan  ecclesiastical  art.  Its  purpose  is  the  preservation  of 
monuments  of  Arab  art,  but,  as  the  mosque  was  the  chief  inspirer  of 


MUSEUM  COLLECTIONS.  325 

elegant  work,  most  of  its  objects  are  directly  or  indirectly  related  to 
Mohammedan  worship. 

The  U.  S.  National  Museum  contains  Buddhist  objects  from 
India,  Siam,  China,  Corea  and  Japan,  as  well  as  considerable  col- 
lections from  Polynesia — the  result  of  the  Wilkes  Exploring  Expedi- 
tion, In  the  Department  of  Ethnology  much  attention  has  been  paid 
to  collections  of  objects  of  religious  import  employed  by  the  abori- 
gines of  North  America,  and  special  series,  as,  for  instance,  mortuary 
customs,  have  been  for  some  time  on  exhibition. 

As  a  result  of  the  travels  of  Mr,  W.  W.  Rockhill  in  Thibet,  the 
National  Museum  secured  a  rich  and  unique  collection  of  the  religious 
objects  of  the  Buddhists  of  that  little  known  country. 

lu  1889  a  collection  of  objects  illustrating  Jewish  religious  cere- 
monial was  placed  on  exhibition,  and  in  his  report  for  that  year  Dr. 
Goode  announced  the  purpose  of  the  museum  to  form  a  collection 
which  would  illustrate  the  comparative  history  of  religion. 

Having  found  a  place  in  the  museum,  it  was  but  proper  that  the 
subject  of  religion  should  be  assigned  space  in  the  great  exhibitions, 
and  that  in  the  natural  course  of  events  special  exhibits  of  religious 
objects  should  be  made.  These  exhibits  are  quite  distinct  from  the 
church  exhibits — either  from  the  point  of  view  of  propaganda  or 
philanthropy — which  have  usually  been  included  in  exhibition  classi- 
fications, 

A  special  religious  exhibition  of  considerable  importance  was  the 
Esposizione  Vaticana,  held  to  commemorate  the  jubilee  of  Pope  Leo 
Xlll.,  from  December,  1887,  to  May,  1888.  It  took  place  in  the 
Basilica  di  San  Pietro  e  Palazzi  Vaticani,  and  its  story  is  told  in  a 
serial  publication,  U Esposizione  Vaticana  Illustrata  Giornale  Ujjiciale 
per  la  Commissione  Promotrice,  as  well  as  in  a  valuable  catalogue.* 

While  not  exclusively  religious,  the  exhibition  was  in  the  main 
an  exhibit  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  although  costumes  of 
other  religious  functionaries  were  admitted. 

In  the  same  year  there  was  held  in  London,  in  honor  of  the 
Queen's  jubilee,  the  Anglo-Jewish  Historical  Exhibition,  in  which  the 
richest  collection  of  Jewish  ceremonial  obiects  ever  got  together  was 
placed  on  exhibition. 

At  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1889  the  Society  of  Anthropology  of 

*  See  Appendix  No.  l. 


326        THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Paris  included  a  history  of  religions  in  its  classfication,  with  the  sub- 
divisions of  Amulets  and  Divinities.  Amulets,  however,  were  given 
most  attention. 

In  April,  1892,  a  loan  exhibition  of  objects  used  in  religious  cere- 
monies and  charms  and  implements  for  divination  was  held  at 
Philadelphia  under  the  auspices  of  the  Department  of  Archc^ology  and 
Paleontology  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

A  useful  catalogue  of  this  collection  (edited  by  Mr.  Stewart 
Culin)  was  published.  The  classification  followed  the  Musee  Guimet, 
and  was  geographical  in  the  main,  though  not  strictly  so.*  A  decided 
improvement  on  the  Musee  Guimet  plan  was  the  admission  of  one  of 
the  great  Semitic  religions — Mohammedanism. 

In  the  Columbian  Historical  Exhibition  at  Madrid  (1892),  7,000 
square  metres  were  devoted  to  a  splendid  exhibit  of  Christian  ecclesi- 
astical art,  arranged  by  cathedrals. 

The  Chicago  Exposition  has  made  considerable  advance  on  its 
predecessors  in  this  regard.  Two  exhibits  of  religions  are  to  be  found 
here— one  in  the  Ethnological  Building  and  one  in  the  U.  S.  Govern- 
ment Building.  On  the  Midway  Plaisance  there  is  a  mosque  in 
charge  of  an  Imam,  officially  appointed  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  in 
his  capacity  of  Caliph,  i.  e.,  successor,  or  rather  substitute  of  Moham- 
med—the title  of  the  head  of  the  Mohammedan  church. 

A  Parliament  of  Religions  has  been  called  which,  while  conducted 
on  church  lines,  and  almost  exclusively  from  the  propagandist  or 
philanthropic  point  of  view,  yet  possesses  a  certain  interest,  in  that  it 
enables  the  presentation  of  many  creeds  by  their  own  professors.  Of 
the  exhibits  I  shall  not  speak  in  detail,  as  the  Congress  has  set  apart 
a  special  day  for  visiting  them,  yet  I  may  be  pardoned  for  making 
a  few  general  statements  covering  the  exhibit  in  the  Smithsonian 
Section. 

Some  time  before  the  plans  for  the  National  Museum  exhibit 
were  under  way,  the  purpose  of  forming  a  section  devoted  to  com- 
parative religion  had  been  definitely  announced.  It  was  accordingly 
decided  to  prepare  a  type  exhibit  for  the  World's  Fair.  This  exhibit 
suffered  under  limitations  as  to  space  and  time  for  preparation.  It 
was  further  decided  to  limit  the  religions  shown  to  a  selection  of  the 
nations  inhabiting  the  Mediterranean.     This  selection  had  a  conscious 


*See  Appendix  No.  2. 


MUSEUM  COLLECTIONS.  'Sll 

significance  already  referred  to  in  the  discussion  of  the  Musee  Guimet, 
which  is  of  considerable  practical  value  for  the  advance  of  the  study 
of  religions  in  America.  The  Mediterranean  basin  has  been  the  seat 
of  the  civilizations  of  the  modern  western  world.  The  art,  phil- 
osophy and  religion  of  Europe  and  America  arose  among  the  ancients 
of  that  region,  and  the  highest  ideals  even  of  the  moderns  are  still  to 
be  found  in  the  books  and  the  works  of  art  of  those  ancient  peoples. 
In  an  attempt,  therefore,  to  introduce  the  study  of  religions  into 
universities,  or  to  create  departments  of  religious  ceremonial  in 
museums,  it  behooves  us  for  the  nonce  to  put  aside  the  American, 
Indian  and  the  Central  African,  and  to  begin  at  least  with  those 
religions  whose  history  has  an  interest  for  all  men  of  our  day,  the 
knowledge  of  which  should  really  become  a  part  of  general  culture. 

The  exhibits  comprised  the  following  religions:  Assyro-Baby- 
lonian,  Jewish,  Oriental  Christian,  Mohammedan,  Greek  and  Roman. 

It  is  expected  that  in  the  coming  year  a  collection  of  religious 
history  and  ceremonial  institutions  will  be  installed  in  the  National 
Museum.  For  the  present,  museum  economy  will  render  it  necessary 
that  objects  relating  to  the  religion  of  the  aborigines  of  North  America 
be  retained  in  the  general  ethnological  exhibits,  though  they  will  be 
carefully  differentiated. 

With  that  exception,  the  museum  collections  already  referred  to, 
those  on  exhibition  at  the  Exposition  and  some  recently  acquired,  will 
be  labeled  and  installed  as  soon  as  practicable.  So  fully  is  the  im- 
portance of  this  subject  recognized  that,  in  spite  of  the  great  pressure 
for  floor  space  at  the  museum,  adequate  room  will  be  provided, 
although  it  will  require  the  retiring  of  some  interesting  collections. 

Religion  consists  in  what  men  believe  concerning  the  supernatural 
and  what  they  do  in  consequence  of  that  belief— in  creed  and  cult. 

It  is  the  cult  which  most  readily  lends]  itself  to  museum  exhib- 
ition, and  this  will  be  taken  up  first,  although  there  are  devices  by 
which  even  creeds  may  be  shown  in  museum  collections. 

The  objects  will  be  exhibited  in  religious  groups  and  not  in  any 
geographical  relation,  except  in  so  far  as  the  worship  has  actually 
been  affected  by  geographical  considerations. 

The  cult  objects  will  be  arranged  under  certain  well  recognized 

heads. 

There  is  usually  a  public  worship  in  which  the  sacerdotal  and 
lay  classes  have  definite  functions;  there  are  places  of  worship  with 


328         THE  INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

furniture  and  appointments,  symbols  about  them  and  shrines  within 
them;  there  is  the  sacerdotal  person,  his  costume  and  the  implements 
he  employs;  the  sacred  writings,  the  altar  or  its  equivalent;  the 
special  public  religious  occasions,  such  as  feasts;  the  public  religious 
ceremonies  on  special  occasions  that  affect  the  community — as  wars, 
triumphs,  distress,  famine  and  drought. 

The  relation  of  the  individual  to  the  cult  will  come  next  in  order 
— marriage,  birth  and  death,  in  some  cases  betrothal;  ceremonies  at 
certain  ages,  more  especially  of  the  attainment  of  puberty;  the  rela- 
tion of  religion  to  the  organized  community,  state  religious  obser- 
vances; finally  the  secret  religious  practices  among  which  charms  and 
divination  would  probably  fall. 

Such  collections  once  made  for  the  individual  religions,  cer- 
tain groups  of  ceremonies  will  be  taken  up  in  the  hope  that  a  com- 
parison of  the  underlying  ideas  may  form  a  fruitful  subject  of 
study,  * 

A  double  purpose  would  be  served,  for  instance,  by  an  exhibit  of 
sacred  books,  which  would  furnish  an  opportunity  for  the  classifica- 
tion of  the  book  religions.  This  may  be  followed  by  a  collection  to 
illustrate  the  altar  and  sacred  enclosure.  Another  subject  that  would 
lend  itself  to  such  a  comparative  collection  would  be  votive  offerings; 
still  another  would  be  music  and  musical  instruments;  mortuary  and 
marriage  customs,  and  many  other  subjects  will  readily  suggest  them- 
selves. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  quote  a  sentence  from  the  suggestive 
article  of  Prof.  Jastrow  t  as  expressing  the  aspirations  of  the  National 
Museum  in  this  connection:  "  With  the  admirable  facilities  possessed 
by  a  government  institution,"  he  says,  "for  obtaining  objects  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  the  scope  of  this  section  ought  at  an  early  day 
be  made  co-equal  with  the  universe." 

The  study  of  religions  is  one  by  no  means  narrow,  but  full  of 
significance  for  the  historian  and  anthropologist.  The  greatest  move- 
ments in  political  history  have  either  been  occasioned  by  or  resulted 

*How  effectively  t^iis  may  be  done  as  a  matter  of  investigation,  has  already  / 
been  shown  by  the  study  of  sacrifice  among  the  Semites  by  Prof.  W.  Robertson 
Smith  in   his  work,  The  Semitic  T^eligions:    Fundamental  Institutions,  the  most 
notable  contribution  to  the  study  of   Semitic  religions  which  has  ever  been 
made. 

f  'Biblical  IVorld,  Jan.,  1893,  pp.  24-32. 


MUSEUM  COLLECTIONS.  329 

in  religious  movements;  and  these  are  not  infrequently  stereotyped  in 
some  religious  ceremony. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  history  of  the  Roman 
Church,  as  well  as  the  history  of  the  church  symbolism,  might  be 
studied  in  a  collection  of  Papal  medals;  yet,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
no  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  form  such  a  collection. 

As  Dr.  Brinton  has  pointed  out,  religion  has  had  much  to  ao 
with  the  growth  of  the  arts  and  forms  of  government.* 

A  subject  of  such  wide  import  and  so  great  general  interest  ought 
rapidly  be  admitted  to  our  museums,  find  a  place  in  the  curriculum 
of  our  universities,  and  gain  an  entrance  to  all  the  avenues  of  public 
instruction. 

Appendix  L 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  OBJECTS  RELATIVE  TO  CATHOLIC  WORSHIP 

AND  RELIGION. 

Group  L — Woven  Goods. 

ist  Class. — IVhite  Goods. 

Principal  objects:  Amices— Albs— Cinctures— Corporais— Palls— Purifac- 
tors— Handkerchiefs— Finger  Towels— Altar  Linens— Communion  Cloths— Sur- 
plices and  Rochet-towels  for  the  Sacristy,  etc.,  etc. 

2nd  Class. — Colored  Goods. 

Principal  Objects :  Chasubles— Stoles— Maniples— Chalices— Veils— Burses 
for  Chalices  (colors:  white,  red,  green,  violet,  black,  and  gold  and  silver  cloth) 
—Cushions  for  Missals— Dalmatics— Copes— Veils  for  Sub-deacon— Coverings 
for  the  Bench  in  Solemn  Masses— Coverings  for  the  Missal  in  the  same  Solemn 
Masses— Canopy  or  Altar  Coverings— Burse  for  Pyx— Veil  for  Pyx— Veil  for 
Processions— Altar  Coverings— Carpet  or  Cloth  for  Altar  Steps— Covering  for 
Immovable  Lecturns— Covering  for  Movable  Lecturns—Cloths— Arras-Veils, 
€tc.,  to  adorn  churches— Artificial  Flowers  in  silk,  cloth  and  talc— Pennants- 
Banners,  etc. 

Gnoup  II.— Objects  in  Metal,  Wood.  Etc. 
jrd  Class.— I^essels  of  Metal. 

Principal  Objects:  Chalices  (cups  of  gold  and  silver  gilt)— Paiens— Vessels 
for  Hosts  (i.  e.,  Ciboriums)— Little  Basins  for  Cruets— Peace  Instruments— 
Pyxes— Ostensoria— Vessels  for  Purifications— Vessels  for  Water  to  be  Blessed- 
Portable  Vessels  for  Holy  Water— Vessels  for  Oil  for  the  Lamps— Vessels  for 
the  Holy  Oils— Vessels  for  washing  the  hands  in  the  Sacristy. 


*  I cono graphic  Cjyclopedia,  Vol.  I.,  141. 


330         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

4th  Class. — Furniture  of  Various  Kinds. 

Principal  Objects:  Crosses  for  Altars — Processional  Crosses — Crosses  for 
the  Sick — Chandeliers  for  Altars— Triangular  Chandeliers — Chandeliers  for  the 
Pascal  Candle — Altar-Cards— Antependiums — Missal-stands — Censers — Incense 
Boat — Umbrellas  and  Canopies — Wooden  Boxes  for  Chalices — Case  for  Osten- 
soria — Folding  Seats — Bishop's  Chairs — Fold-stool  {i.  e.,  unofficial  episcopal 
throne)— Kneeling  Benches— Pulpits — Official  Throne  of  Bishop — Gates- 
Wooden  Altars — Cornices,  etc.,  etc. 

^th  Class. — Glass. 

Principal  Objects:  Cruets — Vessels  for  Purifications — Lamps — Colored 
Glasses. 

Group  III.— Books. 

6th  Class. — 'Books  for  Worship. 

Principal  Objects:  Missals — Psalters — Graduals — Antiphonaries — Breviaries 
— Martyrologies — Rituals — Pontificals — Ceremonials,  etc.,  etc. 

yth  Class. — Religious  Books. 

Principal  Objects:  Theological  and  Catechetical  Works— Moral  and  Casu- 
istry—Philosophy— Ascetic  Works — History — Biography — Apologists— Litur- 
gies— Sacred  Archaeology  and  Epigraphy — Reliefs  and  Monographs  of  Sacred 
Monuments  now  existing — Religious  Journals  and  Periodicals,  etc.,  etc. 

Group  IV.— Fine  Arts  and  their  Affinities. 

8tb  Class. — (Architecture. 

Principal  Objects:  Plans  and  Designs  for  Churches,  Chapels,  Altars,  Bap- 
tistries— Small  Models — Designs  of  existing  Churches — Designs  and  Plans  for 
Restoration  of  Churches,  etc.,  etc, 

gth  Class. — Painting. 

Principal  Objects:  Altar  Pieces  in  oil,  encaustic,  distemper — Miniatures, 
etc.,  etc. 

toth  Class.^Sculpture. 

Principal  Objects:  Statues — Groups — Bas-reliefs — Wall  Decorations  and 
Sacred  Furniture  (in  marble,  metal,  wood,  terra-cotta,  cement,  scagliola,  stucco) 
etc.,  etc. 

nth  Class. — zMusic. 

PART   first. 

Principal  Objects:  Treatises  on  Religious  Music — Collection  of  Ancient 
Religious  Music — Modern  Church  Music,  etc. 

PART  second. 

Principal  Objects:  Organs— Harmoniums — Bells,  large  and  small,  etc.,  etc. 


MUSEUM   COLLECTIONS.  33l 

i2tb  Class. — Ajfniities. 

PART  FIRST. 

Photography,  Silography,  Lithography,  Engravings  in  Steel  and  in  Copper, 
Seals,  Mosaics,  Plaster,  etc.,  etc. 

The  reproduction  of  Devotional  Objects — Sacred  Images— Monuments,  etc. 

HART    SECOND. 

Small  Devotional  Objects,  as  Rosaries,  Medals,  Crucifixes,  etc. 

PART   THIRD. 

Different  Products:  Wax— Oil— Wine— Incense,  etc. 

John  ACQUADERIN,  President. 
John  Donini,  Secretary. 
Bologna,  January  fist,  i88y. 

Appendix  11. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  EXHIBITS 

OF  RELIGIONS. 

Ancient  Egypt. 
Religions  of  India. 

Sectarian  Brahminism. 

Buddhism. 

Jainism. 
Religions  of  China: 

The  State  Religion. 

Confucianism. 

Worship  of  Ancestors. 

Taoism. 

Buddhism. 
Thibetan  Buddhism. 

Religious  Ceremonies  of  the  Chinese  in  the  United  States. 
Japan: 

Shintoism. 

Buddhism. 
Mohammedanism. 
American  Religions: 

Northwest  Coast. 

United  States. 

Mexico. 

Yucatan. 

San  Domingo. 

Peru. 
Polynesia. 
Bantu  Tribes.  ^ 


LINGUISTICS. 


xa 


LINGUISTICS. 

THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  AMERICAN  LINGUISTICS. 

BY   DANIEL  G.    BRINTON. 

[Abstract.] 

THE  survey  of  American  linguistics  which  I  shall  present  to  you 
shall  have  as  its  chief  object  the  indication  of  the  tlelds  which 
have  been  least  cultivated,  and  which,  for  this  reason,  demand 
the  closer  attention  of  future  workers. 

In  the  extreme  north,  the  various  Eskimo  dialects  have  of  late 
been  studied  by  a  number  of  competent  observers,  and  their  relation- 
ship rendered  more  clear,  while  their  sharp  contrast  to  the  Ural-Altaic 
languages  has  become  evident.  In  the  Dene,  or  Athabascan,  the  labors 
of  the  Rev.  A.  J,  Morice  in  the  west  have  supplied  excellent  material 
for  the  important  comparisons  which  should  be  instituted  between  the 
De'ne  of  the  northern  interior  and  the  dialects  of  the  coast,  and  the 
Navaho  and  Apache  of  the  south.  The  relationship  of  the  northwest 
coast  tongues  has  been  most  fruitfully  examined  by  Dr.  Boas,  whose 
conclusions  will  be  laid  before  this  Congress. 

Throughout  the  United  States  the  native  tongues  have  long  been 
systematically  studied  by  the  linguists  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
and  many  interesting  discoveries  have  resulted.  The  linguistic  map 
lately  issued  by  the  Bureau  will  long  be  the  guide  to  laborers  in  this 
field.  To  Mr.  Horatio  Hale  we  owe,  among  many  other  valuable 
contributions,  the  discovery  of  the  extension  of  the  Dakota  stock  to 
the  eastern  seaboard  among  the  Tuteloes,  a  suggestion  followed  up 
by  Messrs.  Gatschet  and  Dorsey  in  the  identification  of  the  Biloxis, 
and  probably  the  Catawbas,  as  other  members  of  the  same  family. 
We  still  ask  further  evidence  of  the  identification  of  the  Cherokee 
with  the  Iroquois;  and  the  stocks  of  Texas,  Southern  Florida  and 
Southern  California  are  not  yet  positively  established. 

In  Mexico,  under  the  active  supervision  of  Dr.  Antonio  Penafiel, 
a  mass  of  material  has  been  collected  in  the  shape  of  vocabularies  by 
the  Ministerio  del  Fomento;  but  practically  none  of  this  has  been 

335 


336  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

published.  It  is  very  likely  that  entirely  new  and  unknown  linguistic 
stocks  survive  in  this  republic,  and  it  is  certain  that  of  many 
languages  and  dialects  still  spoken  there  we  possess  only  the  most 
meager  information.  We  cannot  too  strongly  urge  upon  the  intelli- 
gent scholars  of  our  sister  republic  to  collect  and  publish  the  new 
linguistic  material  which  is  at  their  hands  in  the  less  traveled  portions 
of  their  own  country. 

The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  Central  American,  or,  as  I  have 
called  it  in  my  work  on  "  The  American  Race,"  the  "Inter-Isthmian" 
region.  1  do  not  believe  that  a  single  new  stock  will  be  discovered 
between  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  and  that  of  Panama;  and  the 
only  important  historic  tribe  which  we  cannot  assign  to  its  linguistic 
place  is  the  Guetares  of  Costa  Rica.  Dr.  C.  Sapper,  of  Guatemala, 
has,  indeed,  recently  promised  me  a  vocabulary  of  a  new  stock  from 
Tapachula,  but  I  shall  be  surprised  if  on  receipt  it  does  not  turn  out 
to  be  one  already  familiar.* 

Passing  to  South  America,  1  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  lo 
make  public  for  the  first  time  a  conclusion  which  I  have  reached, 
opposed  not  only  to  the  opinion  hitherto  always  expressed  by  linguists, 
but  to  my  own  former  statements.  This  opinion,  so  long  held,  is 
that  the  linguistic  stocks  of  South  America  are  more  numerous  than 
those  of  North  America.  This  view  I  have  been  obliged  to  renounce 
after  a  prolonged  and  special  study  of  all  the  accessible  materials  con- 
cerning South  American  languages.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  really 
astonishing  multitude  of  dialects  there  found  will  resolve  themselves 
into  a  comparatively  small  number  of  stocks,  less,  certainly,  than 
those  already  recognized  in  the  northern  continent,  t 

The  interesting  question  of  the  possible  relationship  of  some  of 
these  stocks  with  tongues  on  the  northern  continent  has  been  noted 
by  Herzog,  Uhle,  Adam,  Ernst,  and  others,  and  is  eminently  deserv- 
ing of  continued  investigation.  It  cannot  be  said  that,  up  to  the 
present,  wholly  satisfactory  results  have  been  reached. 

We  have  recent  and  excellent  studies  of  the  Carib  by  Von  den 
Steinen  and  Adam,  of  the  Southern  Brazilian  dialects  by  Ehrenreich, 


*This  proved  to  be  the  case,  as  it  is  found  to  be  a  dialect  of  the  Zoque- 
Mixe  family. 

f  Some  evidence  may  be  seen  in  my  Studies  of  South  American  O^ative 
Languages.     (Philadelphia,  1S92.) 


THE   PRESENT  STATUS  OF  AMERICAN   LINGUISTICS.  337 

of  the  Pano  by  R.  de  la  Grasserie,  who  also  contributes  one  on  the 
Puquina  to  this  Congress,  on  the  Kechua,  by  MiddenorlT,  on  the 
Tupi  by  Nogueira,  Rodrigues  and  Seybold,  on  the  Chaco  dialects  by 
Lafonequevedo,  on  the  Yahcan  by  Brydges  and  Hyades;  but  we  have 
inadequate  information  of  the  numerous  tongues  spoken  along 
tiie  great  divide  between  the  basins  of  the  La  Plata  and  Amazon 
rivers;  of  those  which  still  survive  in  the  mountains  of  Southern 
Colombia  and  Ecuador,  and  in  Andaqui  and  the  neighboring  provinces. 
We  have  yet  to  establish  the  relationship,  if  any  exists,  between  the 
Patagonian  Tzoneca,  the  tongues  of  Fuegia,  and  the  Great  Araucan 
and  Chaco  families  to  the  north.  Nor  can  it  be  allowed  that  the  last 
word  has  been  said  as  to  the  connection  of  the  Aymara  with  the 
Kechua,  or  of  the  Arawack  with  the  Tupi. 

These  are  hasty  references  to  the  geographical  lacunae  which  are 
visible  on  the  linguistic  map  of  America;  but  there  are  others  keenly 
felt  by  the  student  who  is  in  earnest  on  this  subject.  He  perceives 
that  not  only  in  some  localities  the  material  does  not  exist,  but  that 
in  others,  while  it  does  exist,  it  remains  inaccessible.  Here  is  where 
we  should  appeal  urgently  to  governments,  learned  societies  and  the 
intelligent  wealthy  for  aid.  We  shall  never  know  Nahuatl  till  the 
great  history  written  in  that  language  by  Father  Sahagun,  the  unique 
manuscript  of  which  is  in  the  Medicean  Library  in  Florence,  is  pub- 
lished; we  can  never  learn  the  full  resources  of  the  Maya  language 
until  the  dictionary  written  at  the  Convent  of  Motul  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  is  printed,  two  manuscripts  of  which  exist— one 
in  my  possession.  In  similar  case  is  the  Micmac- English  Dictionary 
of  Rand,  the  Cakchiquel  Dictionary  of  Coto,  and  many  others. 
How  fruitful  has  been  the  liberality  of  Julius  Platzmann  in  republish- 
ing extremely  rare  works  on  American  languages!  How  valuable  the 
Library  of  oAmerican  Linguistics,  edited  by  Shea;  the  Bibliotbeque  de 
Linguistique  Americaine,  published  under  the  auspices  of  various 
French  scholars  in  Paris;  and  the  similar  series  brought  out  by 
Alphonse  Pinart! 

1  have  scarcely  left  myself  room  to  refer  to  many  scholars  who 
have  made  general  or  special  studies  on  American  languages,  such  as 
Friedrich  Mueller,  who,  in  his  epochal  Gnmdriss  der  Sprachwissen- 
schaft,  offers  a  systematic  analysis  of  over  forty  of  them;  of  Lucien 
Adam,  who,  besides  general  studies,  has  published  model  monographs 
on  the  Chapanec,  Mosquito,  etc. ;  of  Charencey,  whose  Chrestomathie 


338         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

zMaya  merits  the  highest  commendation;  of  Dr.  Stoll,  who  has  taken 
as  his  field  the  numerous  South  Maya  dialects;  of  Dr.  Sapper,  whose 
recent  linguistic  map  of  Guatemala  is  most  satisfactory;  or  Dr. 
Darapsky,  whose  analyses  of  South  American  groups  are  always 
scholarly;  of  the  Licentiate  Belmar,  who  is  exploring  the  unfilled 
field  of  South  Mexican  dialects;  of  Fernandez  Ferraz,  to  whom  we 
owe  valuable  publications  on  Central  American  native  tongues;  of 
Dr.  Leon,  who  has  opened  the  treasures  of  the  Tarascan;  of  the  Abbe 
Petitot,  whose  Dene  Dictionary  is  the  standard;  of  Rink  and  Bour- 
quin,  whose  works  on  the  Eskimo  are  unsurpassed;  and  in  this  list  of 
those  who  have  lent  the  greatest  aid  to  American  linguistics  it  would 
be  a  signal  omission  to  forget  the  name  of  James  C.  Pilling,  whose 
bibliographies  of  the  native  languages  of  North  America  are  unequaled 
in  their  class  for  fullness  and  accuracy. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE 
NORTH  PACIFIC  COAST. 

BY   FRANZ   BOAS. 

THE  North  Pacific  Coast  is  inhabited  by  a  great  number  of  Indian 
tribes  who  speak  many  distinct  languages.  A  comparison  of 
vocabularies  of  these  languages  has  led  to  the  following  group- 
ing in  linguistic  stocks.  In  Southern  Alaska  we  find  a  number  of 
dialects  of  the  Tlingit  language.  On  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  and  on 
a  few  islands  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Archipelago  the  Haida  is  spoken. 
In  the  northern  portion  of  British  Columbia,  particularly  along 
Naass  River  and  Skeena  River,  we  find  the  Tsimshian  spoken  in  two 
dialects.  From  Northern  British  Columbia  to  the  central  portion  of 
Vancouver  Island  extend  the  Kwakiutl,  whose  language  is  spoken  in 
three  closely  allied  dialects.  Adjoining  them  at  the  west  coast  of 
Vancouver  Island  live  the  Nootka.  South  and  east  of  these  regions  a 
great  number  of  languages  are  spoken  which  are  all  ai^liated,  and 
called  the  Salish  languages.  An  isolated  branch  of  this  stock  lives 
among  the  Kwakiutl,  while  the  great  body  is  located  in  the  interior  of 
British  Columbia,  Washington,  Northern  Idaho  and  Northwestern 
Montana.  A  small  isolated  branch  is  found  south  of  Columbia  River. 
On  the  coast  of  Washington  they  enclose  a  small  territory  on  which 
the  Chemakum  language  is  spoken.  Along  Columbia  River  they 
adjoin  the  Sahaptin  and  Chinook  languages.  The  Willamette  River 
valley  was  occupied  by  people  speaking  two  distinct  languages,  the 
Calapooya  and  the  Molala.  In  this  enumeration  I  have  omitted  the 
Athapascan,  which  is  spoken  in  the  northern  interior  of  British  Col- 
umbia and  in  a  number  of  isolated  regions  along  the  Pacific  coast. 

In  comparing  these  languages  we  are,  first  of  all,  struck  by  a 
certain  similarity  of  phonetics  among  most  of  them.  We  find  an 
abundance  of  k  sounds,  articulated  in  all  positions  from  the  posterior 
velar  to  the  anterior  palatal  position;  a  series  of  lateral  explosives  or 
/  sounds  articulated  at  the  posterior  portion  of  the  palate.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  aspirate  labials  and  the  lingual  r  are  absent.  The 
only  languages  which  show  an  entirely  difierent  phonetic  type  are  the 


340  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Calapooya  and  Molala.     As  little  is  known  regarding  their  strucmre, 
I  must  omit  them  in  the  following  considerations. 

The  phonetic  system  of  the  various  languages  may  best  be  set 
forth  by  the  following  scheme: 

rals. 


Tlingit 

Haida 

Tsimshian.. 
Kwakiutl  ; . 
Nootka  .... 

Salish 

Chemakum 
Chinook  ... 


bials. 

Poiut  of 
Tongue. 

Back  of 
Tong-ue. 

Thrills. 
R. 

L,ater 
L,. 

— 

1 

1 

* 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

— 

1 

— 

If 

1 

— 

1 

— 

I 

— 

*  M  occurs  sometimes,  but  pronounced  with  semi-closure  of  the  lips. 
t  Except  the  Tillamook  dialect. 

This  tabulation  shows  that  the  Tlingit,  Haida  and  Tsimshian 
take  a  peculiar  position  among  the  other  dialects,  as  they  have  an  r 
sound,  and  as  the  first  two  have  no  labials.  The  r  sound  in  question 
is  a  uvular  thrill,  the  lips  assuming  at  the  same  time  the  w  position. 
As  the  thrill  is  very  light,  particularly  in  Tlingit  and  Tsimshian,  the 
sound  is  often  mistaken  for  u.  In  Bishop  Ridley's  translation  of  the 
Gospel  I  find,  for  instance,  g'uel  for  what  I  hear  as  g'E'rEl, 

In  all  these  languages  the  dilTerence  between  surds  and  sonants  is 
very  slight,  so  much  so  that  I  doubt  if  there  is  any  real  difference  of 
this  character  in  Haida  and  Tlingit.  It  exists,  undoubtedly,  in  the 
Kwakiutl  and  Salish.  In  the  latter  language  we  find  the  peculiarity 
that  in  many  dialects  m  and  n  are  pronounced  with  semi-closure  of 
the  nose,  so  that  they  are  dit!kult  to  distinguish  from  h  and  d.  This 
peculiarity  is  also  found,  although  to  a  less  extent,  in  the  Kwakiutl, 
Nootka,  Chemakum  and  Chinook  languages. 

When  we  turn  to  a  consideration  of  the  grammatical  form  of 
these  languages,  we  shall  find  again  that  Haidi  and  Tlingit  stand  de- 
cidedly by  themselves  when  compared  to  the  rest  of  the  languages. 
While  all  the  others  use  reduplication  for  grammatical  purposes,  no 
trace  of  reduplication  is  found  in  these  two  languages.  A  closer 
comparison  reveals  a  number  of  other  traits  which  they  have  in 
common.  There  is  no  trace  of  grammatic  gender  and  no  separate 
forms  for  singular  and  plural  or  distributive.  When  it  is  neces- 
sary to  state  expressly  that  the  plural  is  meant,  a  word  denoting  ' '  a 
number  of  "  is  placed  after  the  noun.     Compound  nouns  are  very 


LANGUAGES  OF  THE   NORTH  PACIFIC  COAST.  341 

numerous,  the  compounds  being  placed  side  by  side  without  any 
alteration.  Words  of  two,  three  and  more  components  which  seem 
to  be  monosyllabic  occur.  Local  adverbs,  which  always  retain  their 
independence,  frequently  enter  into  compound  words  of  this  kind. 
The  adjective  always  follows  the  noun  to  which  it  belongs. 

In  both  languages  there  are  four  forms  of  the  personal  pronoun. 
In  the  independent  pronoun  the  selective  and  the  ordinary  form  may 
be  distinguished.  For  instance,  in  Tlingit,  the  question:  "Who 
among  you  is  going  to  go?"  requires  the  answer  xatc,  I;  while 
the  question,  "Who  is  there?"  requires  the  answer  ;va/,  I.  The 
pronoun  of  transitive  verbs  differs  from  that  of  intransitive  verbs,  the 
latter  being  identical  with  the  objective  form  of  the  former.  In 
Thngit  we  have  qat  (1)  rE  (2)  nek  (3)  I  (1)  (am)  sick  (3),  the  rE 
being  a  particle,  but  at  {\)  qa  (2)  sae'  (3)  it  (1)  I  (2)  cook  (3);  in 
Haida;  de  (1)  sfe'ga  (2)  I  (1)  sick  (2);  but  tla  (1)  ga  (2)  ta  (3),  I  (1) 
it  (2)  eat  (3).  The  latter  example  elucidates  another  point  of  resem- 
blance between  the  two  languages.  When  transitive  verbs  have  no 
object,  it  is  necessary  to  add  a  general  object,  in  Tlingit  at  {\)  qa  {2) 
qa  (3),  It  (1)  I  (2)  eat  (3);  in  Haida  tla  (1)  ga  (2)  ta  (3),  I  (1) 
it  (2)  eat  (3).  The  transitive  verb  is  formed  in  both  languages  by 
placing  the  objective  pronoun  first,  next  the  subject,  and  last  the 
verb.  The  objective  pronoun  is  derived  in  both  languages  from  the 
objective  form  of  the  personal  pronoun.  The  interrogative  is  formed 
in  Tlingit  by  the  particle  ag^,  in  Haida  by  gua.  In  the  former 
language  the  particle  follows  the  verb,  in  the  latter  the  pronoun.  In 
both  languages,  however,  it  follows  the  adverb,  if  there  is  one.  The 
enumeration  of  similarities  shows  a  far-reaching  resemblance  of 
structure  of  the  two  languages.  I  will  add  a  short  list  of  compound 
words  which  will  make  the  similarity  of  structure  still  clearer. 

Haida.  Literal  Translation. 

gyaU'aniE'l  leg  knuckle 

,  ,  S  leg  dancing  ap- 

g'at  idsga'wa         deer  belt 

/        ,. .,       ,     J  ,    {  mouth  smoke 
'r    xe'Ltnga'etida'o\      ^^^ 

I  faL  gjyit'e'  her  womb  child 

na  ti'na  house  top 

g'o'Ua  Ira'era  stealing  master 

ra'Hila  Ira'era  fighting  master 


Eng-lish. 

Tling-it        Literal  Translation. 

ankle 

q'os  CaqL 

leg  knuckle 

dancing 
leggins 

\ 

q'os  qet 

leg  dancing  ap- 
parel 

lycopodium 
pipe 

q'oqan  si'ge 
ts'eqda  ket 

deer  belt 
smoke  around 
box 

pregnant 
roof 

to  kat  gafa 
hit  ka 

her  womb  child 
house  top 

thief 

ta'o  s'a'te 

stealing  master 

warrior 

g'au  s'a'te 

fighting  master 

342         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

This  similarity  of  structure  becomes  the  more  surprising  if  we 
take  into  consideration  that  not  one  of  the  neighboring  languages 
shows  any  of  the  peculiarities  enumerated  here.  The  structural  re- 
semblance of  the  two  languages  and  their  contrast  with  the  neighbor- 
ing languages  can  be  explained  only  by  the  assumption  of  a  common 
origin.  The  number  of  words  which  may  possibly  be  connected  by 
etymology  is  small,  and  the  similarities  are  doubtful.  Nevertheless, 
the  structural  resemblance  must  be  considered  final  proof  of  a  his- 
torical connection  between  the  two  languages.  In  concluding,  I  give 
a  brief  list  of  similar  words: 


ngrlish. 

Tlingit. 

Haida. 

child 

gat 

gj>it 

small 

ga'tsko 

gE'tso 

ear 

guk 

gvu 

thumb 

gouc 

k'use' 

blood 

CE 

g.a'i 

knuckle 

t'aql 

fzmE'l 

septum 

faka' 

fa'nri 

sinew 

fas 

fa'tse 

elbow 

fer 

isEgui' 

heart 

tek 

tek' o' go 

knee 

q'ulo' 

hyer 

people 

na 

na  (house) 

to  stand 

gya 

gy^l 

dry 

xoq 

qa 

woman 

ea'wat 

dja'at 

on  top  of 

hi 

si 

man 

ungit 

e'Lingj 

i< 

qa 

q'al 

The  next  group  of  languages  embraces  the  Tsimshian,  Kwakiutl 
and  Nootka,  Salish  and  Chemakum.  As  I  have  proved  at  another 
place  {Sixth  Report  on  the  Northwestern  Tribes  of  Canada,  Tro- 
ceedin^s  of  the  British  Association  for  the  <tAdvancement  of  Science, 
iSgoi)  that  Kwakiutl  and  Nootka  are  dialects  of  the  same  stock,  I  do 
not  need  to  enter  on  this  point  here. 

All  those  languages  use  amplification  of  the  stem  for  indicating 
plurality.  The  plurality  may  be  distributive  or  frequentative.  The 
amplification  of  the  stem  is  brought  about  either  by  diaeresis,  by  re- 
duplication or  by  the  use  of  infixes.  Time  and  locality  are  defined 
very  sharply.  In  most  dialects  of  these  languages  presence  and 
absence  and  past  and  present  are  always  designated.       In  other 


LANGUAGES  OF  THE   NORTH  PACIFIC  COAST.  343 

respects  the  languages  show  great  differences.  The  Tsimshian  has 
certain  characters  which  mark  it  out  decidedly  from  all  the  others. 
While  among  the  southern  languages  composition  is  almost  always 
by  means  of  suffixes,  the  Tsimshian  has  almost  exclusively  prefixes. 
In  counting,  a  few  classifying  suffixes  are  found,  but  we  do  not 
observe  the  occurrence  of  suffixes  or  prefixes  denoting  nouns  that  are 
not  class- words,  such  as:  parts  of  the  body,  house,  fire,  water.  On 
the  other  hand,  contractions  in  which  parts  of  words  are  suppressed 
apparently  for  reasons  of  euphony  appear  quite  frequently,  while 
they  are  very  rare  in  the  southern  group  of  languages,  if  they  exist  at 
all.  Therefore,  the  analysis  of  Tsimshian  words  reveals  the  fact 
that  the  principles  of  composition  are  quite  distinct  from  those  of  the 
Kwakiutl  and  other  southern  languages. 

The  southern  group  of  languages,  the  Kwakiutl,  Salish  and 
Chemakum,  which  show  hardly  any  indications  of  relationship,  so 
far  as  their  vocabulary  is  concerned,  have  a  series  of  very  peculiar 
traits  in  common.     First  among  these  I  mention  the  occurrence  of 
suffixes   denoting  nouns  ;    not  class-words,  but  nouns   designating 
concrete,  individual  objects.    Such  are  primarily  parts  of  the  body, 
furthermore  designations  of  localities,  of  fire,  water,  road,  blanket, 
domestic  animal   (/.  e.,  in  olden  times,  dog)   and  many  others. 
These  words  are  so  peculiar  and,  moreover,  cover  in  these  languages 
so  nearly  the  same  classes  of  objects,  that  I  cannot  help  thinking 
there  must  be  a  common  source  from  which  they  have  sprung.     We 
do  not  find  nouns  of  this  character  in  the  Kutonaxa,  which  adjoins 
the  Salishan  languages,  nor  in  the  Athapascan,  while  similar  suffixes 
are  found  in  the  Algonquin  languages.     It  is  worth  remarking  that 
inside  the  same  linguistic  stock,  namely,  the  Salishan,  their  application 
varies  widely.     In  the  dialects  of  the  interior  these  suffixes  are  found 
very  frequently,  while  they  are  rarer  in  the  coast  dialects.    Another 
very  important  peculiarity  which  those  three  languages  have  in  com- 
mon, and  in  which  they  differ  from  all  the  neighboring  languages,  is 
that  whenever  an  adverb  accompanies  the  verb  the  former  is  intlected, 
while  the  verb,  at  least  the  intransitive  verb,  remains  unaltered.     In 
the  Kwakiutl  language  the  object  even  is  inflected  while  the  verb 
remains  unchanged.     When  a  transitive  verb  is  accompanied  by  an 
adverb  the  latter  always  takes  the  suffix  of  the  pronominal  subject, 
while  the  verb  takes  that  of  the  pronominal  object. 


344  THE  INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

These  similarities  are  so  pronounced  and  so  peculiar  that  they 
must  have  originated  in  a  common  source. 

In  judging  the  differences  between  the  languages  of  this  group, 
it  may  be  well  to  dwell  briefly  on  the  dilTerences  of  dialects  in  two  of 
them,  namely,  the  Salish  and  the  Kwakiutl  The  Salish  is  remark- 
able for  the  great  number  of  its  dialects  and  the  diversity  of  forms 
which  they  have  assumed.  These  dialects  may  be  grouped  in  those 
of  the  coast,  the  Lillooet,  the  Shushwap  and  the  Okanagan. 
Each  of  them,  except  the  Shushwap,  embraces  a  number  of  dialects. 
The  greatest  number  and  greatest  diversity  are  embraced  in  the  coast 
dialects.  All  of  these  have  pronominal  gender,  while  the  dialects  of 
the  interior  have  no  trace  of  gender.  The  most  northern  of  this 
group  of  dialects,  the  Bilxula,  is  remarkable  for  the  extensive  elision 
of  vowels.  The  most  southern  dialect  of  the  group  has  lost  all  the 
labials,  which  are  frequent  in  all  the  other  Salishan  languages.  Most 
of  these  dialects  also  distinguish  in  the  pronoun  between  presence 
and  absence.  The  Shushwap  dialect  is  remarkable  because  it  is  the 
only  one  that  has  preserved  the  exclusive  and  inclusive  forms  of  the 
first  person  plural.  All  the  dialects  of  the  interior  have  many  verbs 
the  singular  and  plural  of  which  is  formed  from  distinct  stems.  They 
use  suffixes  denoting  specific  nouns  much  more  extensively  than  the 
dialects  of  the  coast.     They  do  not  distinguish  between  absence  and 

presence. 

The  Kwakiutl  and  Nootka  show  difTerences  that  are  still  more 
far-reaching  than  those  between  the  Salishan  dialects.  Both  localize 
actions  sharply  by  means  of  suffixes.  The  Nootka  is  satisfied  with 
designating  actions  as  having  happened  in  the  house,  on  the  beach, 
on  the  water,  etc.  The  Kwakiutl  adds  always  if  they  took  place 
near  the  speaker,  near  the  person  addressed,  absent  visible  or  absent 
invisible,  and  also  the  time,  if  in  the  past  or  in  the  future.  The 
Kwakiutl  has  an  exclusive  and  inclusive  form  of  the  first  person 
plural  which  has  disappeared  in  the  Nootka.  If  such  differences 
occur  between  more  closely  allied  dialects,  we  do  not  need  to  wonder 
at  the  greater  differences  between  these  languages  which  show  only 
certain  similarities  of  structure.  Each  point  of  similarity  gains  rather 
greater  weight  on  account  of  the  divergence  of  the  dialects  of  each 
stock  among  each  other. 

The  ditTerences  between  the  languages  maybe  defined  as  follows: 
The  Kwakiutl  and  Nootka  have  a  much  sharper  localization  than  any 


LANGUAGES  OF  THE   NORTH  PACIFIC  COAST.  345 

of  the  Other  languages.  They  lack  entirely  pronominal  gender. 
They  have  an  inclusive  and  exclusive  form  of  the  first  person  plural. 
Their  use  of  the  negation  in  compounds  deserves  special  mention. 
Their  negation  is  a  prefix  which  enters  into  composition. 

The  Salishan  languages  have  prenominal  gender.  They  distin- 
guish presence  and  absence,  and  have  inclusive  and  exclusive  forms  of 
the  first  person  plural. 

The  Chemakum  has  also  pronominal  gender.  The  amplifica- 
tion of  the  stem  for  the  purpose  of  forming  distribution  takes 
peculiar  forms  which  are  not  found  in  the  other  languages.  An 
apparent  infix— /s— is  the  most  peculiar  of  these  forms. 

I  attribute  great  weight  to  the  occurrence  of  pronominal  gender 
in  both  the  Chemakum  and  Salish,  as  this  is  a  phenomenon  of  very 
rare  occurrence  in  America, 

Turning  further  south,  we  reach  a  type  of  language  which  is 
entirely  distinct  from  those  treated  heretofore.  This  language  is  the 
Chinook.  It  has  none  of  the  peculiar  nominal  sutiixes  which  charac- 
terize the  preceding  group  of  languages.  In  fact,  its  words  are  of 
very  simple  build,  local  adverbs  only  entering  into  the  composition  of 
words.  Its  most  important  character  is  the  existence  of  a  real  gender. 
The  Chinook  has  a  masculine,  feminine  and  neuter,  the  last-named 
gender  designating,  primarily,  small  objects.  So  far  as  1  am  able  to 
judge,  the  classification  of  nouns  according  to  gender  does  not  follow 
any  rules.  The  vowel  of  the  stem  is  always  in  harmony  with  the 
vowel  of  the  prefix,  so  that  e'-ka-la,  male,  becomes  o'-ko-la  in  the 
feminine.  There  exist  a  surprisingly  large  number  of  onomatopoetic 
terms.  Particularly  verbs  which  designate  actions  accompanied  by  a 
noise  belong  to  this  class,  as:  to  laugh,  to  split,  to  tear,  to  dig.  The 
language  abounds  in  abstract  terms.  Many  of  our  adjectives  can  be 
expressed  only  by  such  terms.  Thus  the  Chinook  says,  instead  of 
"the  bad  man,"  "the  man  his  badness  ;  "  instead  of  "  I  am  sick," 
"my  sickness  is  on  me."  We  find  a  singular,  dual  and  plural. 
They  are  not  formed  by  amplification  of  the  stem.  The  first  person 
dual  and  plural  have  an  exclusive  and  inclusive  form.  The  verb  is 
incorporating  to  a  degree.  It  designates  by  means  of  prefixes  the 
subject,  direct  and  indirect  object.  These  characteristics  distinguish 
the  Chinook  sharply  from  the  other  languages  which  we  have  con- 
sidered heretofore. 

Our  review  has  shown  that  the  seven  languages  of  this  region 


346  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

which  show,  so  far  as  we  can  prove  at  present,  no  etymological  rela- 
tionships worth  considering:,  may  be  classed  in  four  groups: 

1.  The  Tlingit  and  Haida. 

2.  Tsimshian. 

3.  The  Kwakiutl,  Salish  and  Chemakum. 

4.  The  Chinook. 

The  similarities  of  the  languages  belonging  to  each  group,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  differences  between  the  groups, 
are  so  striking,  that  we  must  assume  that  some  generic  connection 
exists  between  the  languages  of  each  group.  The  elucidation  of  the 
details  of  this  connection  must  be  left  to  a  closer  study  of  the  lan- 
guages, based  upon  a  comparison  of  their  dialects.  So  far  our 
knowledge  of  most  of  the  languages  of  the  Pacific  Coast  is  confined 
to  a  meager  list  of  vocabularies.  Therefore  the  classification  must  be 
considered  in  its  infancy.  Etymologies  of  Indian  languages,  the  his- 
tories of  which  we  do  not  know,  is  a  subject  of  the  greatest  difficulty, 
and  must  be  based  on  investigations  on  the  structure  of  the  languages, 
if  it  shall  not  sink  to  the  level  of  mere  guessing.  In  the  present  state 
of  linguistic  science,  a  classiification  ought  to  take  into  account  struc- 
ture as  well  as  vocabulary.  The  former  will  give  us  valuable  clues 
where  the  comparison  of  mere  words  ceases  to  be  helpful.  It  is  with 
the  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  importance  of  this  method  that  the 
imperfect  comparison  between  the  languages  of  the  North  Pacific 
Coast  has  been  presented. 


SUPPLEMENTARY. 


347 


SUPPLEMENTARY. 

DIE   BEWOHNER   DES   GRAN    CHACO,    PARAGUAY. 

VON   EMIL   HASSLER. 

EINE  weite,  immense  Ebene,  noch  wenig  bekannt  und  erst 
zweimal  durchkreuzt,  erstreckt  sich  der  Gran  Chaco 
vom  20.  Grad  bis  zum  25.  Grad  siidl.  Breite,  das  rechte 
Ufer  des  Paraguay-Stromes  bildend  bis  bin  an  die  Auslaufer 
der  Cordilleren  von  Bolivien,  Salta  imd  Jujuy.  Seiner  Na- 
tur  als  Alluvialgebiet  entsprechend,  durchziehen  ausser 
den  aus  Bolivien  kommenden  Grenzfliissen  Rio  Negro  im 
Norden,  Pilcomayo  im  Westen  und  Sliden  nur  sparliche  un- 
bedeutende  Wasserlaufe  das  mit  iibermannshohem  Steppen- 
gras  bedeckte  Gebiet.  Wo  die  leicht  gewellte  Oberflache 
etwas  ansteigt,  unterbrechen  hohe,  dichte,  theilweise  un- 
durchdringliche  Walder  die  Monotonie  der  mit  Palmen  dicht 
besaeten  Prairie.  Rudel  von  Hirschen,  Wildschweinen  und 
Straussen  {J?/iea  Americana)  beleben  die  so  eigenartige  Land- 
schaft.  Am  Ufer  der  Fliisse,  Bache  und  der  vielen  kleinen 
Lagunen  sonnen  sich  unzahlige  Alligatoren,  von  Tausenden 
von  vSumpf-  und  Wasservogeln  umgeben,  die  sich  nicht  im 
Geringsten  durch  die  Gegenwart  des  beutegierigen  Reptils 
am  Futtersuchen  einschiichtern  lassen.  Bei  Mondschein  sind 
diese  selben  Stellen  dann  der  Rendezvousplatz  der  mit  Be- 
hagen  sich  im  Schlamme  walzenden  Tapire  und  der  grossten 
aller  Nager,  der  Capyrara.  Nicht  selten  aber  werden  diese 
letzteren  in  ihrem  nachtlichen  Vergnligen  gestcirt  durch 
einen  im  hohen  Grase  lautlos  heranschleichenden  Jaguar,  der, 
mit  sicherem  Sprunge  eines  der  armen  Opfer  erhaschend, 
dasselbe  seiner  Lagerstatte  zuschleppt,  um  je  nach  der 
Grosse  derselben  oft  tagelang  davon  zu  leben.  Dies  in  wcni- 
gen  Worten  das  Gebiet,  das  heute  noch  von  allerdings  nur 
sparlichen  Ueberresten  eines  Volkes,  das  ich  unter  dem  ge- 
nerischen   Namen  Chaco-Indianer  zusammenfasse,  bewohnt 

wird. 

349 


350         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Mit  Ausnahme  der  die  nordliche  Grenze  des  Gran  Chaco 
bewohnenden  Chamacoccos,  die  in  wilde  und  zahme  einge- 
theilt  werden,  deren  Stammesverwandte  hauptsachlich  in 
Bolivien  zu  finden  sind,  und  der  die  Siidgrenze  und  die  an- 
grenzenden  argentinischen  Gebiete  bewohnenden  Tobas,  als 
deren  Opfer  im  Jahre  1882  der  beriihmte  Amerikaforscher 
Dr.  Crevaux  fiel,  konnen  wir  alle  iibrigen  den  Chaco  be- 
wohnenden Stamme  als  zu  einer  grossen  Volkerfamilie  ge- 
horig  zusammenfassen.  Trotzdem  jeder  der  fiinf  Stamme 
seine  eigene  Sprache,  seine  eigenen  Sitten  und  Gebrauche 
hat,  miissen  wir  sie  doch  ethnographisch  als  eins  auffassen, 

SPRACHE. 

Die  Sprachdifferenz  ist  mehr  Dialektdifferenz,  da  die 
hauptsachlichsten  Worte  alle  von  einem  einzigen  Sprach- 
stamme  herstammen,  iiber  den  wir  noch  nicht  viel  wissen. 
Es  ist  mir  wahrend  mehrjahriger  Reisen  moglich  geworden, 
nur  sparliche  Vokabularien,  die  nach  meiner  Ansicht  noch 
sehr  viele  Irrthiimer  enthalten,  zusammenzustellen.  Die 
Schwierigkeit  ist  namlich  eine  doppelte:  Die  wenigen  Indi- 
viduen,  welche  ausser  ihrer  eigenen  Sprache  noch  eine  an- 
dere  verstehen,  kennen  nur  ein  sehr  unvollkommenes  Gua- 
rani,  das  sie  im  Verkehr  mit  der  paraguayschen  Landbevol- 
kerung  des  linken  Ufers  erlernt  haben,  Spanische  Worte 
sind  denselben  ganz  unbekannt. 

Die  fiinf  Hauptstamme  sind  die  folgenden,  nach  ihren 
Wohnplatzen  aufgezahlt  von  Norden  nach  Siiden: 
Guanas, 
Sanapanas, 
Cuximanopanas. 
Angaytes. 
Lenguas. 

Die  ersten  drei  lassen  sich  zusammenfassen  zu  einer 
einzigen  Gruppe,  die  ich  mit  dem  Namen  Guana-Gruppe  be- 
zeichne.  Sowohl  in  ihren  Sitten  als  auch  ihrer  Sprache  sind 
nur  geringe  Unterschiede  vorhanden.  Ich  werde,  um  den 
Rahmen  eines  Vortrages  nicht  zu  iiberschreiten,  bei  der 
Spezialbeschreibung  der  einzelnen  Stamme  nur  auf  die  Gu- 
anas, als  den  typischsten  der  drei,  naher  eingehen. 


THE   INHABITANTS   OF  THE   GRAN   CHACO.  35l 

DIE  GUANAS. 

Die  Guanas  bewohnen  den  Uferstrich  des  Paraguay-Flus- 
ses  zwischen  dem  Rio  Negro  und  dem  als  Fecho  dos  Morros 
bekannten  Vereinigungspunkt  des  Rio  Paraguay.  ImNorden 
des  von  den  Guana  bewohnten  Gebietes  wohnen  die  Chama- 
coccos,  ihre  geflirchteten  Feinde,  im  Osten,  d.  h.  ca.  20  Meilen 
von  dem  Ufer  des  Paraguay  entfernt,  die  stammverwandten 
Cuximanopanas,  und  im  Sliden  die  ebenfalls  befreundeten 
Sanapanas,  deren  Gebiet  sich  bis  zum  Rio  Galvan,  gegeniiber 
dem  Grenzflusse  Apa,  erstreckt. 

Ihre  Nachbarn  und  Gegner  auf  dem  linken  brasiliani- 
schen  Ufer  des  Paraguay-Flusses  sind  die  Cadocos-Stamme. 

Die  Guanas  bestehen  aus  9  verschiedenen  Stiimmen  von 
zusammen  vielleicht  250  Seelen.  Jeder  dieser  Stiimme  hat 
sein  streng  abgegrenztes  Wohn-  und  Jagdgebiet,  das  vielleicht 
durchschnittlich  40  bis  60  Quadratmeilen  gross  ist.  Festen 
Wohnsitz  hat  keiner  der  Stamme.  Je  nach  der  Jahreszeit, 
d.  h.  der  Jagdsaison,  beziehen  sie  entweder  direct  am  Fluss- 
ufer  oder  auch  weiter  im  Innern  gelegene  Lager.  Die  Hiit- 
ten  sind  auch  dieser  nomadischen  Lebensweise  entsprechend 
gebaut.  Vier  durch  Querstangen  verbundene  Holzpflocke 
von  ca.  i^  Meter  Hohe  werden  je  etwa  2;^  Meter  von  ein- 
ander  entfernt  in  den  Boden  festgerannt,  mit  HUlfe  von 
Lianen  und  Bromeliafaserschnliren  werden  Schilf  und  breit- 
blattrige  Philodendron  als  Dach  dariiber  befestigt,  und  die 
Sommerwohnung  ist  fertig.  Vier  bis  sechs  Hangcmatten 
auf  diesem  kleinen  Raume  liber-  und  nebeneinandcr  aufge- 
spannt,  auf  dem  Boden  ein  qualmendes,  nur  glimmend  erhal- 
tenes  Feuer,  mit  Harz  von  einer  Guyacaart  gespeist,  vervoll- 
kommnen  die  Einrichtung  des  luxuriosen  Palastes.  Bei 
starkem  Regen  gewahren  einige  an  den  Seitenwanden  auf- 
gehangte  Binsenmatten  nothdlirftigen  Schutz  gegen  seitlich 
eindringende  Regentropfen.  Ein  solcher  luftiger  Bau  beher- 
bergt  oft  8 — 10  Menschen.  Im  Winter  werden  mit  Rinden 
und  gespaltenen  Palmen  an  den  Seiten  geschiitztc  und  mit 
doppeltem  Schilfdach  versehene  Wohnungen  gebaut,  eine 
dicht  an  der  andern;  seiten  hat  aber  ein  solcher  Toldo  mehr 
als  sechs  HUtten,  da  die  Toldos  sich  gewohnlich  aus  hoch- 
stens  25 — 30  Individuen  zusammensetzen.  Die  Winterwoh- 
nung  ist  sorgfaltiger  gebaut.     Das  Dach  fiillt  nach  /.wei  Sei- 


352  THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ten  ab.  Die  Kochstelle  befindet  sich  im  Innern.  Fiir  Rauch- 
abzug  ist  ntir  die  mit  einer  Binsenmatte  verhangte  Thiir 
vorhanden.  Der  oberste  Befehlshaber  eines  jeden  Toldos 
ist  der  Cacique.  Die  neun  verschiedenen  Caciques  steheii 
aber  alle  unter  dem  Cacique-Guazu,  der  in  dem  jagdreich- 
sten  Gebiete  seinen  Wohnsitz  hat.  Rangunterschiede  beste- 
hen  keine,  nur  hat  der  Cacique  als  AnfUhrer  bei  alien  Unter- 
nehmungen,  sei  es  Jagd  oder  Fischfang,  zu  dienen.  Der  je- 
weilige  Cacique  wird  vom  Cacique-Guazu  ernannt,  d.  h.  er 
erwahlt  den  Tapfersten  eines  Toldo,  und  derselbe  bleibt 
lebenslanglich  in  Funktion.  Die  Wiirde  des  Cacique-Guazti, 
d.  h.  des  Oberhauptlings  des  ganzen  Guana-Stammes,  ist 
erblich  und  geht  vom  Vater  auf  den  erstgebornen  Sohn 
liber.  Der  Cacique-Guazii  ist  der  oberste  Flihrer  im  Kriegs- 
falle,  er  ist  auch  der  Schiedsrichter  zwischen  den  einzelnen 
Toldos,  und  alle  fllgen  sich  Willig  seiner  Entscheidung.  Es 
komrht  namlich  nicht  selten  vor,  dass  ein  Toldo  im  Jagdeifer 
seine  Jagd  auf  das  Gebiet  eines  andern  Toldos  ausdehnt; 
kommt  dies  vor,  so  beklagt  sich  der  Toldo,  dessen  Gebiet 
verletzt  wurde,  und  die  Entscheidung  lautet  gewohnlich, 
dass  die  Jagdbeute,  ein  Hirsch  oder  Alligator,  den  recht- 
massigen  Eigenthiimern  zuriickgegeben  werden  muss. 

JAGD. 

Der  Guana  verbringt  den  grossten  Theil  des  Tages  mit 
Jagen  oder  Fischen,  um  flir  sich  und  die  Seinen  den  nothigen 
Lebensunterhalt  zusammenzubringen,  wahrend  dessen  die 
Frauen  und  Kinder  mit  Anfertigung  jvon  Waffen,  Topfer- 
eien  und  den  allerdings  gewohnlich  bios  aus  Federn  besteh- 
enden  Kleidungsstucken  beschaftigt  sind. 

Die  beliebteste  Jagd,  weil  sie  die  ausgiebigste  Beute 
liefert,  ist  die  Hirschjagd.  Der  Guana  ist  ein  guter  Schiitze, 
und  mit  seinem  aus  Palode  lanza  gemachten  Bogen  weiss  er 
sehr  geschickt  umzugehen.  Im  Gegensatz  zu  den  brasilian- 
ischen  Stammen  zielt  er  direkt,  und  die  aus  Eisenholz  gefer- 
tigte  mit  Widerhaken  versehene  Spitze  des  Pfeiles  dringt  oft 
durch  und  durch.  vSehr  oft  aber  auch  kommen  die  Manner 
ohne  Beute  von  der  Jagd  zuriick,  und  Waldfriichte  und  Sa- 
men  bilden  an  dem  betreffenden  Tage,  wenn  nicht  vielleicht 
die  Jungen  mit  ihren  aus  Knochen  gefertigten  Angeln  einige 


THE   INHABITANTS   OF  THE   GRAN   CHACO.  353 

Fische  erlegt,  die  emzige  Nahrung.  Das  kommt  ofters  vor, 
und  daher  ist  denn  auch  begreiflich,  dass,  wenn  die  Jagd 
gelungen,  eine  unmassige  Fresserei  stattfindet.  Bis  der 
ganze  Hirsch  aufgezehrt,  ruht  der  Toldo  nicht.  Von  Auf- 
bewahren  fllr  einen  Tag,  an  dem  das  Jagdgliick  weniger 
glinstig,  kennen  die  Leute  nicbts.  Essen  bis  alles  ver- 
schwunden  ist,  ist  die  Losung.  Die  Ziibereitung  ist  sehr  ein- 
fach:  Entweder  wird  das  Fleiscb  am  Spiesse  gebraten  oder 
mit  einigen  essbaren  Wurzem  zusammen  in  einem  irdenen 
Topfe  gekocht,  ohne  Salz,  das,  obwohl  es  in  der  dortigen 
Gegend  in  einigen  Lehmstellen  sich  findet,  den  Leuten  doch 
unbekannt  ist.  Die  iibrigen  beliebten  Jagdthiere  sind  das 
Carpincho  [Hydrachcerus  Capy/iarati),  das  Wildschwein  und  das 
Pekari,und  last  not  least  der  moschus-riechende  Alligator,  eine 
beliebte  Delikatesse.  Die  Vogel  werden  nur  ihrer  bunten 
Federn  wegen,  die  als  Scbmuck  dienen,  gejagt,  und  Papa- 
geien  zu  Zahmungszwecken  mit  stumpfen,  vorne  mit  Holz- 
kolben  versehenen  Pfeilen  betaubt.  Die  Fische,  die  auch 
eines  der  beliebten  Nahrungsmittel  bilden,  werden  mittelst 
Angeln,  von  spitzen  Knochen  gemacht,  oder  mittelst  eines 
eigenartigen  Reusenapparates  gefaugen. 

Grosse  Freunde  des  Bienenhonigs  sind  die  Guanas  eben- 
falls.  Mittels  einer  speciellkonstruirten  einer  Tabakspfeife 
ahnlichen  Rohre,  die  sie  mit  Blattern  einer  Datura-Art 
flillen  und  deren  Ranch  dann  durch  eine  kleine  Oeffnung  in 
den  hohlen  Stamm,  in  dem  die  Bienen  hausen,  eingeblasen 
wird,  betauben  sie  die  kleinen,  emsigen  Honigfabrikanten, 
und  vermittelst  eines  pinselartigen  Instrumentes,  das  in  die 
Hohlung  eingetaucht  wird  und  nach  dem  Herausnehmen  in 
ein  Kurbisgefass  ausgepresst,  entleeren  sie  die  ganze  Hohl- 
ung ihres  siissen  Inhalts.  Der  Honig  wird  sowohl  als  solcher 
als  auch  mit  Wasser  vermengt  und  einer  leichten  Giihrung 
imterworfen,  genossen, 

KRIEG. 

Krieg  fiihren  die  Guanas  nur  selten,  d.  h.  wenn  sic  von 
ihren  gefurchteten  Feinden,  den  Chamacoccos,  angefallen 
werden,  so  setzen  sie  sich  tapfer  zur  Wehr,  miissen  aber  ge- 
wohnlich  der  Uebermacht  erliegen  und  einige  der  Ihrigen 
bleiben    dann   gewohnlich    als    Opfer  des  Kampfes   auf  der 


354         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Wahlstatt.  The  Chamacoccos  verwlisten  dann  das  Lager, 
schleppen  eventuell  vorhandene  Gegenstande  mit  sich  und 
Ziehen  sich  in  ihr  Gebiet  zuriick.  In  der  letzten  Zeit  kom- 
men  jedoch  diese  Kampfe  immer  seltener  vor,  da  die  Stamme 
immer  schwacher  werden  und  wohlbald  ganzlich  verschwin- 
den  werden. 

EHE. 

Wenn  ein  junger  Guana  das  mannbare  Alter  erreicht,  d. 
h.  mit  ca.  14  Jahren,  muss  er,  bevor  er  sich  eine  Gefahrtin 
zulegen  darf,  Proben  seiner  Mannbarkeit  ablegen,  die  in  dem 
Erlegen  eines  Jaguars  bestehen.  1st  ihm  dies,  was  nicht 
immer  so  glatt  von  statten  geht,  gelungen,  so  sieht  er  sich 
unter  den  mannbaren  Tochtern  des  Stammes  um,  sei  es  im 
eigenen  oder  einem  Nachbartoldo,  und  legt  dann  der  Aus- 
erwahlten  die  erlegte  Tagesbeute  nachts  vor  die  Hiitte.  1st 
dieselbe  am  andern  Morgen  verschwunden,  ist  dies  der  Be- 
weis,  dass  der  Freier  willkommen,  d.  h.  dass  die  Angebetete 
ihm  als  Frau  angehoren  will.  Falle  von  Zuriickweisung 
scheinen  nicht  vorzukommen,  denn  die  Regeln  sind  sehr 
strenge  eingehalten,  dass  ein  Madchen  sofort  nach  Eintritt 
der  Menstruation,  d.  h.  zwischen  zwolf  und  dreizehn  Jahren 
sich  verheirathen  muss,  und  da  gewohnlich  Mangel  an  Mad- 
chen in  Verhaltniss  zu  den  Mannern  ist,  weil  mannliche  Nach- 
kommen  sorgfaltiger  gepflegt  werden  als  weibliche,  and  da- 
her  mehr  weibliche  Kinder  sterben. 

Die  Braut  muss  den  ganzen  der  Hochzeitsnacht  voran- 
gehenden  Tag  fasten,  dann  wird  sie  bei  embrechender  Dun- 
kelheit  von  ihren  Angehorigen  nach  dem  Festplatze  geleitet 
und  bringt  nun  die  ganze  Nacht,  ohne  Nahrung  oder  auch 
nur  Wasser  zu  nehmen,  in  der  Mitte  der  einen  Kreis  um  sie 
bildenden  Toldogenossen  zu.  Die  Frauen  lassen  inregelmas- 
sigen  Intervallen  langgezogene  Schreie  ertonen,  die  durch 
die  Manner  mit  kurzen  Schreien  unterbrochen  werden.  Un- 
terdessen  circulirt  under  den  Anwesenden  fleissig  der  Meth- 
enthaltende  Kiirbiskrug.  Wenn  die  ersten  Sonnenstrahlen 
den  nahenden  Tag  ankiindigen,  entfuhrt  dann  der  Brautigam 
die  Braut  aus  dem  Kreise  und  verschwindet  mit  ihr  im 
nahen  Waldesdunkel.  Hier  mochteich  die  fiir  den  Anthropo- 
logen   sowohl  als   Physiologen  interessante  Bemerkung  ein- 


THE  INHABITANTS   OF  THE   GRAN  CHACO.  355 

schieben:  Coitus  a  parte  posticaefficitur,  sed  nunquam  domu 
noctuque,  semper  die  et  in  silva. 

Es  ist  kein  beneidenswerthesLoos  das  ihrer  wartet,  denn 
die  Stellung-  der  Frau  ist  eine  sehr  untergeordnete.  Sie  ist 
weiter  nichts  als  das  Packthier,  und  alle  Arbeiten,  Hauser 
bauen,  Waffen  anfertigen,  Topfereien,  Kleider,  Hangematten 
fabriziren,  Brennholz  und  Wasser  herbeizuschleppen,  etc., 
alles  das  ist  der  Frauen  Loos. 


GEBURT. 

Flihlt  eine  Frau  dass  die  Stunde  ihrer  Entbindung  naht, 
so  begiebt  sie  sich  in  Begleitung  einer  weiblichen  An- 
verwandten  oder  Freundin  nach  dem  benachbarten  Wald, 
ein  kleines  biegsames  Baumchen  wird  als  Entbindungs- 
stelle  ausgewahlt,  alle  darum  herumliegenden  Laubblatter 
und  Zweigstucke  entfernt,  der  Erdboden  mit  Asche  be- 
streut,  und  nun  erfasst  die  Wochnerin  das  herabgebogene 
Baumchen  mit  beiden  Handen  und  erwartet  in  kauernder 
Stellung  die  Entbindung,  die  gewohnlich  rasch  und  leicht 
verlauft,  die  Freundin  oder  Vervvandtin  empfiingt  mit  ihren 
Handen  den  neuen  Erdenblirger,  mit  Bastfasern  wird  un- 
gefahr  zwanzig  Centimeter  vom  Nabel  der  Nabelstrang  un- 
terbunden  und  mittelst  eines  gescharften  Knochens  durch- 
schnitten  und  die  Schnittstelle  mit  Copaivabalsam  ein- 
gerieben.  Mutter  und  Kind  unterziehen  sich  in  einem 
nahe  gelegenen  Wasser  der  nothigcn  Ablutionen,  wiihrend 
die  Verwandte  die  Placenta  sorgfiiltig  in  Blatter  einhiillt, 
mit  Bast  verbindet  und  mit  nach  Hause  nimmt.  In  der 
Hiitte  angekommen,  wird  dem  Vater  die  so  verpackte  Placenta 
iibergeben.  Derselbe  befestigt  sie  mit  eigener  Hand  auf 
dem  Dache  des  Hauses,  wenn  das  Kind  ein  Knabe  ist;  wenn 
ein  Madchen.  wird  sie  vergraben.  Die  Wochnerin  verrichtet 
vom  ersten  Moment  an  wieder  alle  gewohnten  Arbeiten  im 
Hause,  darf  dasselbe  aber  wahrend  der  40  Tage  die  die 
Locchien  dauern,  nicht  verlassen,  ebenso  wie  sie  sich  wiihr- 
end  der  ganzen  Zeit  streng  nur  an  vegetabilische  Nahrung 
halt.  Dem  Herrn  Gemahl  ist  es  ebenso  streng  verboten 
wahrend  der  ersten  8  Tage  etwasanderes  als  Vegetabilien  zii 
geniessen,  und   ebenso  muss  er  sich  hiiten  die  Fiisse  nass  zu 


356         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

machen,  dies  konnte  sonst  nach  Ansicht  der  Leute  den  Tod 
des  Sprosslings  herbeiflihren. 

AERZTE. 

Eine   eigenthlimliche    Einrichtung    haben    die    Guanas, 
welche  die  iibrigen  Chacostamme  nicht  kennen.  Es  sind  dies 
die  Medizinmanner.     Die  Eigenschaft  Medizinmann  zu  sein 
ist  erblich  und  geht  vom  Vater  auf  den  Solm  liber.     Eine 
eigenartige  Ceremonie  fiihrt  den    Neophyten  in  die  Geheim- 
nisse  der  Kunst  ein  und  verleiht  ihm  die   angebliche  Kraft 
zuheilen.     Ein   eigenes  Haus  wird   gebaut  fiir  den  jungen 
Arzt,  in   jeder  Ecke  desselben   wird  ein   Gefass    aufgestellt, 
dass  je  nachdemes  die  Slid- Nord-Ost- Oder  Westecke  ist,  be- 
stimmte  Pflanzen  und  Wurzeln  aufzunehmen  hat.    Dieselben 
werden  mit  Wasser  vermengt  einer  Art  Gahrung  iiberlassen, 
und  wahrend  dieser  Zeit  darf  Niemand  ausser  dem  Arzt-Vater 
die  Hlitte  betreten.     Am  fiinften  Tage  betritt  nun  derjunge 
Medizinmann,  von   seinen   Verwandten   begleitet   und   vom 
Vater    gefiihrt,   zum    ersten  Male  sein   zukiinftiges    Helm. 
Unter  den  mark-  und  ohrenerschiitternden  Gehaul  der  Wei- 
ber  wird  nun  in  der  Mitte  des  Hauses  ein  neues  noch  nie  ge- 
brauchtes   Thongefass  aufgestellt,    das   aus   in  einer  Mond- 
scheinnacht   gegrabenen    Thon     verfertigt    ist,    auf  einem 
Palo  santo  Feuer    gebrannt   und   mit   einer    Euphorbiaceen 
Asche  bemalt  ist.    Mit  dem  ostlichen  Gefass  anfangend,  leert 
nun  der  Vater  Medizinmann  die  ekelerregenden  Fliissigkeiten 
eine  nach  der  andern  in  das  Mittelgefass  und  zerschlagt  dann 
jedes  der   vier  in  den  Ecken  befindlichen  Gefasse.    Nun  er- 
greift  der   Candidat  das  Hollengebrau  und  verschluckt  es 
standhaft  auf  einmal.  Der  Vater  ergreift  das  Gefass  nachdem 
es  geleert  und  zerschlagt  es  am   eisernen  Schadel  des  durch 
die  Ceremonie  in  den   Kreis  der  Medizinmanner  aufgenom- 
menen  Sohnes.     Aber  noch  ist  nicht  alles  zu  Ende,  denn  drei 
Tage  muss  der  Candidat  noch  im  neuen  Hause  unter  stren- 
gem  Fasten  zubringen.     Sehen  wir  nun  zu  wie  der  Medizin- 
mann seine  Curen  vornimmt.  Das  erste  was  geschehen  muss, 
um  der  Cur  Erfolg  zu  vershaffen,  ist  dem  Medizinmann,  so- 
bald  er  zum  Kranken  kommt,  alles  das  zu  schenken,  was  er 
sich  wiinscht.  Dann  beginnt  er  die  Cur,  indem  er  alle  Anwe- 
senden  zur  Hlitte  hinausschickt,fangt  an  zu  singenundeifrig 


THE   INHABITANTS  OF  THE  GRAN  CHACO.  357 

die  leidende  Stelle  zu  bespeien.  Der  Glaube  ist  namlich 
dass  die  Heilkraft  durch  das  Zaubergetriink  in  seinen  Kcir- 
per  libergegangen  ist,  und  dann  durch  Sekretion,  d.  h.  durch 
den  Speichel  dieselbe  auf  den  Kranken  libergeht.  Ausser- 
dem  wird  der  Kranke  fleissig  gewaschen.  Der  Arzt  oder 
die  Aerzte  saugen  an  der  verwundeten  Stelle  oder  an  der 
Stelle  der  Schmerzen.  Von  Wundbehandlung  haben  die  Leute 
keine  Idee,  ebensowenig  wie  von  Blutstillung.  So  kommt  es 
dass  man  haufig  Fillle  von  Gangrane  von  oft  unbedeutenden 
"Wunden  herrlihrend  sieht.  Der  Speichel  muss  fiir  alles  gut 
sein.  Eine  eigene  Art  von  Medizinmannern  sind  die 
Schlangendoktcren.  Auch  hier  ist  der  Beruf  erblich. 
Der  einzufiihrende  macht  ungefahr  dieselben  Ceremonien 
durch,  nur  statt  des  berlichtigten  Gebraus  muss  er  eine 
Klapperschlange  zuerst  aussaugen,  und  nachher  das  ganze 
in  Streifen  zerschnittene  Fleisch  des  Rlickens  roh  verspeisen. 
Die  Behandlung  des  von  Schlangen  Gebissenen  besteht, 
erstens  im  Aussaugen  der  gebissenen  Stelle  durch  den  Me- 
dizinmann,  nachher  ebenfalls  Anspeien  der  verwundeten 
und  empfindlichen  Region  und  Saugen  des  Bauchnabels  bis 
Blutstropfen  hervortreten. 

Eine  eigenthiimliche  Tradition  sei  hier  erwiihnt.  Nach 
derselben  dlirfen  keine  Frauen  wilhrend  der  Dauer  der  Men- 
struation Honig  geniessen,  da  sie  sonst  sofort  in  einen  Tiger 
verwandelt  wiirden. 

Die  hauptsachlichen  Todesursachen  sind  Magen-  und 
Eingeweideerkrankungen,  von  Zeit  zu  Zeit  Pockenepide- 
mien  und  vernachlassigte  Verwundungen;  oder  Tod  durch 
Unfall  auf  der  Jagd  oder  im  Krieg. 

Immer  mehr  nimmt  die  Zahl  der  Guanas  ab,  der  Nach- 
wuchs  ist  nicht  im  Verhaltniss  zur  Sterblichkeit,  in  den  letz- 
ten  Jahren  hat  auch  durch  Handler,  Missionare  etc.,  das  Feuer- 
wasserseinen  Einzuggehalten,  und  wenige  Jahre  noch  und  die 
Chacostamme  der  Guanas,  Coxiinonopanas,  vSanapanas,  etc., 
werden  nur  noch  in  den  ethnographischcn  und  anthropolo- 
gischen  Museen  fortleben,  wo  noch  einige  Ueberbleibscl  des 
einst  so  zahlreichen  und  interessanten  Volkes  existiren. 

TOD. 

Liegt  ein  Guana  im  Sterben  so  wird  er  von  alien  den 
Seinen  verlassen  und  nur  der  Medizinmann  bleibt  bci   ihm 


358  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

bis  alles  voriiber  ist.  Er  wird  dann  an  eine  entlegene  Stelle  in 
der  bekannten  kauernden  Stellungca.  i  meter  tief  begraben, 
und  alle  ihm  gehorigen  Gegenstande  auf  das  Grab  gelegt, 
ebenso  wie  seine  Hausthiere,  d.  h.  Papageien,  Affen,  etc.,  die 
getodtet  oben  auf  das  Grab  gelegt  werden. 

ANGAYTES. 

Die  Angaytes  bewohnen  den  Gran  Chaco  von  den  Villa 
de  San  Salvador  gegenliberliegenden  Hiigeln  bis  zum  Riacho 
Galvan.  Hire  Nachbarn  sind  gegen  Sliden  die  Lenguas, 
und  oberhalb  des  Apa  die  Sanapanas. 

Sie  sind  ein  kraftiger,  wohlgebauter  Volksstamm,  der 
sein  Leben  von  der  Jagd  und  dem  Fischreichthum  des  Flus- 
ses  Paraguay  fristet.  In  einem  von  der  Natur  etwas  stief- 
miitterlich  behandelten  Gebiete  wohnend, hat  dies  ohne  Zwei- 
fel  auch  ihre  Gemiithsart  beeinflusst,  mdem  sie  scheu  und 
furchtsam  sind.  Die  Bedeutung  ihres  Stammesnamens,  An- 
gayte  (Arme),  den  sie  sich  selber  beilegen,  giebt  schon  davon 
Zeugniss.  Langs  der  Kiiste  des  Paraguays  existiren  fiinf 
Toldos  Oder  Dorfer,  von  denen  jedes  unter  einem  Cacique 
Oder  Hauptling  steht.  Alle  diese  fiinf  Dorfer  stehen  unter 
einander  in  fortwahrender  Verbindung;  zu  Lande  oder  zu 
Wasser  vermitteln  sie  sich  durch  Boten  alle  wichtigen  Neu- 
igkeiten,  und  bei  allfalligen  Kriegsziigen  oder  sonstigen 
schwierigen  Unternehmungen  gehen  sie,  obschon  durch 
weite  Distanzen  von  einander  getrennt,  vereint  vor.  Die 
verschiedenen  Toldos  sind  auch  ausser  der  Stammesver- 
wandtschaft  durch  Blutsverwandtschaft  mit  einander  ver- 
bunden;  so  sind  z.  B.  zwei  der  gegenwartigen  Caciques  Brli- 
der,  die  Frau  des  einen  Cacique  Tochter  eines  dritten  Haupt- 
lings.  Der  ganze  Stamm,  d.  h.  alle  fiinf  Toldos  zusammen, 
zahlt  ca.  i3oSeelen.  Das  Zerstreutwohnen  auf  einem  grossen 
Gebiete  beruht  nur  auf  der  Nothwendigkeit.  Der  ganze  von 
ihnen  bewohnte  Theil  des  Gran  Chaco  liegt  im  sogenannten 
Ueberschwemmungsgebiet  des  Paraguay flusses,  daher  sind 
die  Angaytes  wahrend  etwa  sechs  bis  acht  Monaten  des  Jah- 
res  auf  sehr  kleine,  etwas  liber  dem  hohen  Wasserstand  des 
Flusses  gelegene  Landstriche  angewiesen,  um  sich  ihre  Le- 
bensbedurfnisse  zu  verschaffen,   und  da  diese   Gebiete  nir- 


THE   INHABITANTS   OF   THl:    GRAN   CHACO.  359 

gends  gross  genug  sind,  um  den  ganzen  Staram  zu  niihren, 
so  ist  auch  die  Zersplitterung  desselben  erkliirlich. 

Die  mit  dem  pomposen  Namen  Toldo  oder  Dorf  be- 
nannte  Wohnstatte  der  verschiedenen  Angayte-Horden  be- 
steht  aus  einer  einzigen,  circa  12  Meter  langen,  vier  Meter 
breiten  und  in  der  Mitte  drei  Meter  hohen  Hiitte,  die  als  ge- 
meinschaftlicher  Aufenthaltsort  fiir  Jung  und  Alt  dient.  Das 
Skelet  derselben  besteht  aus  sechs  aufrechtstehenden,  schwar- 
zen  Palmstammen,  die  von  der  dort  im  Ueberfluss  vorlcom- 
menden  Palma  fiegra  (Copernicia)  gewonnen  werden.  Von  die- 
sen  Stammen  sind  vier  an  den  vier  Enden  der  Hiitte  vertical 
angebracht;  diese  messen  ungefahr  a  Meter,  und  zwischen 
diesen  stehen  zwei,  circa  3  Meter  hohe  Stamme,  die  dann  die 
First,  gewohnlich  aiis  einer  einzigen,  ca.  12  Meter  langen 
Palme  bestehend,  tragen.  Einige  gespaltene  Palmen  dienen 
dazu,  die  First  mit  den  Ubrigen  beiden  Liingsbalken  zu  ver- 
binden.  Das  Ganze  wird  mit  Stroh  und  Schilf  gedeckt  und 
bietet  so  einen  nothdiirftigen  Schutz  gegen  Wind  und  Regen. 
In  der  Mitte  dieser  Hiitte  befindet  sich  die  Feuerstiitte,  auf 
welcher  stets  ein  kleines  Feuer  unterhalten  wird,  das  infolge 
der  daraufgelegten  grilnen  Pflanzentheile  das  Innere  stets 
mit  einem  beissenden  Ranch  erfUllt,  der  den  Zweck  hat,  den 
Insassen  einigen  Schutz  gegen  die  zahlreichen  Moskitos  zu 
gewahren.  Trotz  dieser  so  anti-hygienischen  Atmosphare 
sind  Schleimhauterkrankungen  der  Augen,  der  Nase  oder 
des  Kehlkopfs  unbekannt  unter  den  Bewohnern  dieser  Brut- 
statten  von  Ungeziefer  und  Parasiten. 

Die  Bewegung  im  Innern  des  Toldos  ist  nur  auf  alien 
Vieren  moglich,  da  der  ganze  Raum  in  der  Hcihe  von  circa 
einem  Meter  liber  dem  Boden  mit  Hiingematten  iiberspannt 
ist,  in  denen  den  Tag  liber  die  nicht  mit  Jagd  oder  Krieg  be- 
schiiftigten  Manner  ausruhen,  sich  von  den  Frauen  bedienen 
lassend.  Nachts  werden  die  Hiingematten  von  Jung  und  Alt 
als  Schlafstatte  benutzt. 

Die  Verfassung  der  einzelnen  Horden  ist  eine  patriarch- 
alisch-absolute.  Der  Cacique,  dessen  Wlirde  als  Erbe  auf  den 
altesten  Sohn  iibergeht,  ist  derjenige,  der  die  andern  im 
Kriege  anflihrt,  liber  dieGeschicke  jedes  einzelnen  Stammes- 
genossen  entscheidet,  aber  mt'hr  als  Vater,  dem  Alio  unbe- 
dingten  Gehorsam  leisten,  denn  als   Herrscher;  ihin  gehcirt 


360         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

nach  der  Jagd  das  beste  Stiick,  er  hat  den  besten  Schlafplatz. 
Aeusserlich  zeichnet  er  sich  vor  seinen  Stammesgenossen 
nur  durch  einige  ihm  allein  zukommende  Zierrathen  aus, 
wie  z,  B.  durch  einen  Kopfschmuck,  der  grossere  Federn 
hat,  etc. 

Im  Kriegsfalle  vereinigen  sich  die  verschiedenen  Hor- 
den,  um  gemeinschaftlich  vorzugehen.  Den  Oberbefehl  f lihrt 
jeweilen  derjenige  Cacique,  an  dessen  Gebiet  der  Kriegs- 
schauplatz  angrenzt.  Die  Kriege  sind  in  letzter  Zeit  selten 
geworden  und  bestehen  hochstens  aus  einem  Raubzug  in's 
Gebiet  eines  der  Nachbarstamme,  von  dem  sie  gewohnlich 
ausgehungert  und  ermattet  zuriickkommen,  ohne  etwas  an- 
deres  ausgerichtet  zu  haben,  als  vielleicht  einen  der  bei 
ihrem  Ausriicken  von  seinen  Bewohnern  verlassenen  Toldo 
in  Brand  gesteckt  zu  haben.  Die  Angaytes  werden  namlich 
von  ihren  Nachbarstammen,  die  zwar  viel  tapferer  sind,  sehr 
geflirchtet,  da  sie  aus  der  Zeit  der  Lopes'schen  Kriege  her 
einige  alte  Flinten  besitzen,  die  ihnen  aber  aus  Mangel  an 
Pulver  und  Blei  zu  nichts  nlitzen. 

Die  Angaytes  sind  Monogamisten.  Die  Knaben  verhei- 
rathen  sich  sofort  nach  Eintritt  der  Pubertat,  d.  h.  mit  circa 
zwolf  bis  dreizehn  Jahren.  Der  manngewordene  Knabe  sieht 
sich  dann  unter  den  heirathsfahigen  Tochtern  des  Stammes 
um.  Zu  diesem  Behufe  unternimmt  er  eine  eigentliche  Braut- 
schaureise  zu  den  verschiedenen  Horden.  Kriegerisch  ge- 
schmiickt,  das  Antlitz  mit  einem  aus  Urucu-  {Bixa  orelland) 
Samen  gefertigten  rothen  Farbstoffe  ganzlich  bemalt,  besucht 
er  die  verschiedenen  Toldos.  Hat  er  sich  dann  eine  der  hol- 
den  Schonheiten  ausgewahlt,  erbittet  er  sie  von  dem  Ca- 
ciquen,  zu  dessen  Horde  sie  gehort,  als  Frau,  was  ihm  denn 
auch  immer  gewahrt  wird.  Abends  findet  die  Trauung  in 
Form  einer  allgemeinen  Vollerei  und  Betrunkenheit  aller 
Toldogenossen  statt,  und  vom  nachsten  Morgen  an  beginnt 
die  Gattin  ihre  Obliegenheiten  als  solche,  d.  h.  nach  indiani- 
schen  Begriffen,  sie  ist  die  Magd  und  Sklavin  ihres  Ehe- 
gemahls. 

AUe  Arbeiten,  mit  Ausnahme  des  Krieges  und  der  Jagd, 
werden  von  den  Frauen  ausgefiihrt;  bei  grossen  Marschen 
sind  sie  es,  die  alles  Nothige  mitschleppen.  Mit  Sack  und 
Pack  und  Kindern  beladen,  folgen  sie  willig  den  nur  Bogen 


THE   INHABITANTS  OF   THE   GRAN   CHACO.  36l 

und  Pfeil  tragenden  Miinnern,  sich  glucklich  fiihlend,  wenn 
nach  Abspeisung  derselben  noch  etwas  fiir  sie  und  die  Kin- 
der iibrig  bleibt.  Im  Gegensatz  zu  vielen  andern  Stammcn 
sind  diese  Frauen  glucklich,  da  ihr  Gemahl,  so  lange  sic 
leben,  keine  andere  nimmt  und  ihrer  also  nicht  das  Loos  der 
Verstossung,  wie  so  vielen  andern,  wartet. 

Die  Geburt  vollzieht  sich,  wie  bei  den  meisten  Natur- 
volkern,  ausserordentlich  schnell  und  ohne  fremde  Beihlilfe. 
Der  Nabel  wird  von  der  Wochnerin  selbst  mit  einigen  Bast- 
fasern  unterbunden  und  dann  zvvischen  zwei  Steinen  abge- 
quetscht.  Mutter  und  Kind  unterwerfen  sich  dann  sofort 
nachher  einem  Reinigungsbade  in  dem  am  nachsten  liegen- 
den  Bach  oder  Flusse.  Sofort  darauf  nimmt  die  Wochnerin 
ihre  gewohnten  schweren  Hausgeschafte  wieder  auf,  als  ob 
nichts  weiter  geschehen  ware.  Die  Kinder  werden  bis  zum 
Ende  des  zweiten  Jahres  gesaugt.  Der  Durchbruch  der 
Zahne  erfolgt  gewohnlich  nach  Ende  des  ersten  Jahres. 

Von  Krankheiten,  die  sich  haufig  unter  ihnen  zeigen,  er- 
wahne  ich  Magen-  und  Eingeweide-Erkrankungen  und  zeit- 
weise  Blatternepidemien.  Wenn  ein  Kranker  dem  Tode  nahe 
ist,  so  wird  er  von  seiner  ganzen  Familie  verlassen,  und 
diese  kehrt  erst  dann  wieder,  wenn  er  gestorben.  Dann  wird 
der  Leichnam  ohne  Schmuck  und  Ceremonien  in  aufrecht 
kauernder  Stellung  in  ein  unweit  gelegenes  Grab  versenkt 
und  seiner  nur  insofern  gedacht,  dasg  im  Falle  es  ein  Mann 
war,  seine  Frau  das  Haar  kurz  scheeren  lasst  und  sich  nicht 
wieder  verheirathen  kann,  bevor  dasselbe  nachgewachsen. 

LENGUAS. 

Die  Lenguas  bewohnen  das  Gebiet  das  den  Hiigeln  von 
San  Salvador  gegenliber  sich  erstreckt  bis  zum  Rio  Confu- 
sio,  der  einige  Meilen  oberhalb  der  Hauptstadt  Asuncion  sich 
in  den  Rio  Paraguay  ergiesst.  Im  Osten  bildet  der  Para- 
guayfluss  und  im  Westen  das  Sumpfgebiet  des  Pilcomayo 
die  Grenzen.  Ihre  Nachbarn  im  Norden  sind  die  vorher 
beschriebenen  Angaytes,  im  Westen  und  vSiiden  die  wilden 
Tobas  und  im  Osten  das  mit  verschiedenen  grosseren  Ort- 
schaften  besetzte  linke  (Jfer  des  Paraguayflusses.  Die 
Lenguas  sind  also  der  durch  seine  Lage  mit  den  bewohnten 
und  civilisirten  Theilen   von   Paraguay    am   meisten  in  Ver- 


362         THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

bindung  stehende  Stamm  der  grossen  Chaco  Familie.  Der 
Verkehr  mit  den  auf  dem  gegeniiber  liegenden  Paraguay 
Ufer  wohnenden  Paraguayern,  die  Anlegung  verschiedener 
Estancias  in  dem  von  ihnen  bewohnten  Gebiete  haben  sie 
mehr  mit  der  Civilisation  in  Verbindung  gebracht  als  die 
iibrigen  Stamme,  und  sie  sind  desshalb  eigentlich  fiir  den 
Ethnographen  das  uninteressanteste  Volk  der  drei  Stamme. 
Ich  habe  aber  vor  Jahren  noch  Gelegenheit  gehabt  dieselben 
kennen  zu  lernen,  bevor  sie  ihre  vielen  Eigenschaften  ver- 
loren,  und  wenn  ich  Ihnen  daher  eine  Schilderung  des  Le- 
bens  der  Lenguas  vortrage,  so  ist  es  nicht  der  Lengua  von 
heute,  sondern  der  Lengua  wie  er  allerdings  vor  wenigen 
Jahren  noch  war.  Wer  heute  die  abenteuerlich  mit  alien 
moglichen  und  unmoglichen  Kleidungsstiicken  europaischer 
Macherschaft,  mit  Pelzmantel  und  bunte  Hosen  und  Cylin- 
derhut  by  loo  Grad  Temperatur,  oder  in  diinnen  Mousselin- 
rocken  aus  irgend  einer  Theatergarderobe  stammend,  oder 
mit  einer  leeren  Conservenschachtel,  Sardinenbiichse,  etc., 
behangenen  Gestalten  sieht,  die  betrunken  und  gebrochen 
sich  bettelnd  in  den  Ansiedelungen  herumstreichen,  und  sie 
mit  den  stattlichen  halbnakten  aber  kraftigen,  intelligent 
dreinschauenden  Gestalten  von  friiher  vergleicht,  dem  be- 
fallt  ein  Gefiihl  des  Wehmuths  und  ein  Bedauern,  dass  die 
sogenannte  Civilisation  immer  mehr  fortschreitet.  Schritt 
fiir  Schritt  geht  sie  vorwarts,  und  mit  ihr  im  Gefolge  das 
Feuerwasser,  ein  originelles  Volk  nach  dem  andern  wird  ihr 
zur  Beute,  und  bald  wird  Amerika  seiner  letzten  Ureinwoh- 
nerledig  sein.  Zuerst  der  Missionar,  und  ihm  auf  dem  Fusse 
folgt  der  Schnapshandler;manchmal — und  ich  muss  gestehen 
ich  habe  es  gerade  unter  den  protestantischen  gesehen — ver- 
einigen  sie  beides  in  einer  Person.  Doch  ich  verliere  mich 
auf  Bahnen  die  eigentlich  nicht  in  den  Rahmen  des  Vor- 
trags  hineingehoren. 

Woher  die  Lenguas  eigentlich  den  in  ganz  Paraguay 
gebrauchlichen  Namen  haben,  der  ,,Zungen"  bedeutet,  ist 
mir  bis  heute  ein  unaufgeklartes  Rathsel  geblieben.  In  ihrer 
eigenen  Sprache  nennen  sie  sich  Coitychi,  d.  h,  durchbohrte 
Ohren  bedeutet.  Die  Lenguas  tragen  namlich  alle  einen  bis 
5  cm.  dicken  runden  Klotz,  aus  dem  leichten  Holze  der  £ry- 
thrina  Cristagalli  (Cibo)   geschnitzt,  in  den   von    Jugend  auf 


THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE  GRAN   CHACO.  363 

systematisch  erweiterten  Ohrlappen.     Sofort  nach  der  Ge- 
burt  werden  einem  jeden  mannlichen  Wescn  die  beiden  Ohr- 
lappchen    mittelst   eines    spitzigen    Knochens    durchbohrt, 
diese  Locher  mit  der  Zeit  durch  konische  Holzpflocke  immer 
mehr   ervveitert,  bis  sie  beim    ausgewachsenen   ^lann  einen 
stattlichen    Klotz  von   4-5  cm.  Durchmesser  aufnehmen  kon- 
nen.     Gegeniiber   der  paragtiayschen  Stadt  Concepcion,  ca. 
40  km.  vom    Ufer  des    Paraguayflusses     entfernt,     befindet 
sich  der  Stammsitz  der   Lenguas,  d.  h.    ihr  standiges  Haiipt- 
lager.    Sie  bezeichnen  es  mit  dem  Na':nen  Toldo  Guazi'i,  d.  h. 
grosses  Dorf.     Auf  einer  hugeligen  Erhohimg  des  sonst  so 
flachen  Chacogebietes  am  Ufer  eines  kleinen  Baches  gelegen, 
bildet  es  mit  dem   im  Hintergrund  befindlichen   von    statt- 
lichen   Onebracho   und    Palo  de  lanza   strotzenden    Baumen 
ein  eigenartiges,  interessantes  Gemalde.     Der  Toldo  Giiazii 
besteht  aus  12-15  mit  ausgehohlten  gespaltenen  Palmen  be- 
deckten,  ca.  6  m.   langen   und  4  m.  breiten  Hiitten.     Die  aus 
kraftigen    Stammen    bestehenden    Pfosten  sind    durch  ein 
Flechtwerk  aus  Bambus  und  Binsen  mit  einander  verbun- 
den.    Im  Winter  wird  dieses  Flechtwerk  iiberdies  noch  mit 
enthaarten    Hirschfellen,   die    zu    grossen    Decken   zusam- 
mengenaht  sind,  dicht  gemacht,  um  die  Insassen  gegen  die 
dort  schon  empfindliche  Kalte,  ca.  5-8°  Celsius  iiber  Null,  zu 
schiitzen.     Ca.  zwei  drittel  der  Hiitte  werden  durch  eine  ^^-i 
MetervomErdboden  sich  erhebende,mit  Palmen  alsUnterlage 
und  mit   Binsenmatten  und   Hirschfellen  bedeckte  Pritsche 
eingenommen,  die  den  Schlafplatz  der  ganzen  Familie  bildet, 
Oder,  besser  gesagt,  der  ganzen  Horde,  denn  eine  jede  die- 
ser  Wohnhiitten  birgt  ca.  20  bis  25  Einwohner.     Der  iibrige 
Platz  ist   der    Feuerstelle   eingeraumt,  dem  grossen  Wasser- 
gefasse  und  den  Vorrathen.     Unter  der  Pritsche   sind  die 
Waffen,  Haute,  Vorrathe  etc.,  untergebracht.     An  den  Dach- 
sparren  hangen  die  aus  Yucca  und  Bromeliafasern  zierlich 
gearbeiteten    Sacke   zu   Dutzenden,   die    Rcichthiimer  cincs 
jeden  Einzelnen  einschliessend,  als  da  sind  Schmuckgegen- 
stande,  Farben  zum  Bemalen  etc. 

Der  Stamm  besteht  aus  12-15  Horden,  die  alle  unter  dem 
Cacique  guazii  stehen.  Der  Cacique  guazii  hat  scincn  stiin- 
digen  Wohnsitz  im  Toldo  guazil,  wahrend  die  einzelnen 
Horden  je  nach  der  Jahreszeit   unter   der  Anfiihrung  ihres 


364         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

selbstgewahlten  Hordenfiihrers  sich  entweder  am  Ufer  des 
Paraguayflusses  aufhalten  oder  noch  weiter  in  das  Innere 
Ziehen.  Die  Wiirde  des  Cacique  guazii  ist  erblich,  und  geht 
vom  Vater  auf  den  Sohn  iiber.  Ist  kein  Sohn  da  so  wird  der 
Bruder  oder  dessen  miinnliche  Nachkommen  der  Nachfolger. 
Der  Cacique  guazu  mit  seiner  Horde  hat  namentlich  die 
Aufsicht  iiber  das  nicht  unbedetitende  Pferdematerial  unter 
sich.  Die  Lenguas  haben  im  Laufe  der  Jahre  durch  Dieb- 
stahl  und  Tausch  es  zu  einer  ganz  betrachtlichen  Pferde- 
heerde  gebracht.  Die  unermesslichen  Weidegriinde  des  Cha- 
cogebietes  liefern  Nahrung  in  Hiille  und  Fiille.  Ganz  geiibt 
im  Reiten,  sind  dieselben  abertrotz  allem  nichts  weniger  als 
ein  Reitervolk.  Das  Pferd  wird  von  Ihnen  mehr  als  Last- 
denn  als  Reitthier  gebraucht.  Auf  alien  ihren  Ziigen  gehen 
sie  zu  Fuss,  die  Pferde  an  der  Leine  fiihrend.  Die  Lenguas 
sind  der  zahlreichste  Stamm  der  Chacobevolkerung.  Ich 
schatze  ihre  Zahl  iiber  Tausend.  Die  Lenguas  selbst — deren 
Zahlenbegriffe  bei  4  auf horen,  geben  sie  als  noch  viel  mehr  an 
—  allerdings  eine  sehr  unverlassige  Angabe.  Da  nie  mehr 
als  10-12  Horden  zu  gleicher  Zeit  sich  im  Toldo  guazii  be- 
finden  so  ist  eine  Schatzung  sehr  schwer  moglich,  da  die 
verschiedenen  Horden  sich  iiber  ein  Gebiet  von  mehr  als 
Tausend  Quadratmeilen  erstrecken.  Die  meisten  Horden 
halten  sich  nur  voriibergehend  bei  grossen  Festlichkeiten, 
nach  guten  Jagderfolg,  etc.,  im  Toldo  guazii  auf,  sonst  strei- 
fen  sie  jagendin  der  Weite,  iiberall  da  wosiejagd  oderFisch- 
beute  im  grosserem  Massstabe  erwarten,  primitive  Hiitten 
erbauend,  wie  ich  sie  by  den  Guanas  weiter  oben  schon  be- 
schrieben  habe.  Die  Lenguas  sind  der  einzige  Stamm  un- 
ter den  Chacostammen,  der  etwas  Ackerbau  betreibt.  Es  ist 
allerdings  eine  Profanation  des  Wortes  Ackerbau,  wenn  man 
das  Piianzen  der  Lenguas  als  solches  bezeichnen  will.  An 
geeigneten  Stellen  brennen  sie  das  Gras  und  Gestriipp  ab, 
machen  mit  ihren  holzernen  Lanzen  nach  einem  Regen  ca. 
5-7  cm.  tiefe  Locher  in  den  Boden,  versenken  in  dieselben 
einige  Kiirbiss,  Melonen  oder  Maissamen  und  iiberlassen  nun 
das  ganze  dem  wohlthatigen  Einflusse  der  Mutter  Natur 
ohne  sich  bis  zur  Erntezeit  weiter  darum  zu  bekiimmern.  Ist 
dieselbe  da,  dann  kommen  sie  wieder  zuriick  um  einzuheim- 
sen  was  die  Papageien,  Fiichse,  Rehe  und  Hirsche   iibrig  ge- 


THE   INHABITANTS   OF  THE   GRAN   CHACO.  365 

lassen.     Von  Ausjaten,  Einfriedigen,  etc.,  ist  natiirlich  keine 
Rede.     Das  Resultat  ist  auch  darnach. 

Die  Lenguas  sind  tiichtige,  erfahrene  Jiiger,  und  Tau- 
sende  von  Hirschen  miissen  alljahrlich  ihre  Unerfahrenheit, 
den  mit  Schilf  und  Binsen  bedeckten,  sich  heranschleichen- 
den  Rothhauten  nicht  aiisziiweichen,  mit  dem  Leben  bezah- 
len.  Die  Waffen,  deren  sie  sich  dabei  bedienen,  sind  ein  ca 
i^  Meter  langer,  aus  Palo  de  lanza  verfertigter  Bogen  und 
ein  I — 1. 20  M.  langes,  an  der  Spitze  mit  einem  lanzetformi- 
gen  Eisenstllck  versehener  Pfeil,  mit  dem  sie  sehr  sicher  und 
genau  schiessen.  Kommt  der  Jager  nahe  genug  heran,  so 
bedient  er  sich  wohl  auch  des  Boleadors,  einer  Waffe,  die  aus 
drei,  circa  i^  Meter  langen  Seilen  von  Hirschhaut  besteht, 
deren  obere  Enden  mit  einander  verkniipft,  und  deren  untere 
Enden  mit  schweren,  kugelformigen  Steinen  versehen  sind. 
Ist  der  Boleador  geschickt  geworfen,  bringt  er  den  Hirschen 
zum  Fall,  und  ein  wohl  berechneter  Stoss  mit  der  Lanza 
macht  ihm  den  Garaus.  Wird  der  Lengua  auf  der  Jagd  von 
einem  Jaguar  angefallen,  so  ist  es  auch  die  Lanze  wieder,  die 
er  als  Hauptvertheidigungswaffe  gebraucht. 

Der  Vogeljagd  ist  der  Lengua  weniger  zugeneigt,  doch 
stellt  er  wohl  ziemlich  haufig  den  Straussen  nach,  deren  ge- 
suchte  Schwanzfedern  er  dann  gegen  allerlei  niitzliches  und 
unniitzes  an  der  Paraguaykiiste  voriiberkommenden  Schif- 
fern  austauscht.  Der  Fischfang  wird  hauptsiichlich  von  den 
jungen  Elementen  des  Stammes  betrieben,  die  den  grossten 
Theil  des  Tages  in  ihrem  aus  Trinhastiimmen  gebauten,  mit 
Feuer  ausgehohlten  Piroguen  zubringen,  jedem  voriiber- 
kommenden Schiff  sich  nahernd,  um  eventuell  etwas  erbet- 
teln  zu  konnen.  Die  Leute  sind  durchwegs,  sowohl  Manner 
als  Frauen,  vorzligliche  Schwimmer,  und  es  ist  interessant 
zuzusehen,  wie  eine  ganze  Horde  mit  Kindcrn  und  Gepiick 
einen  ihren  Wegkreuzenden  Fluss  passirt.  Diekleinsten  Kin- 
der werden  auf  einem  Floss  untergebracht,  das  aus  Bambus- 
rcihren,  mit  liber  denselben  ausgespannten  Fellcn  gebaul  ist; 
dasselbe  wird  an  einem  vScile  befestigt.  das  eine  Frau  in  den 
Mund  nimmt,  und  nun  kreuzt  dieselbe  den  Fluss.  Auf  dem 
andern  Ufer  angekommcn,  zieht  sie  nun  langsam  das  mit 
Sauglingen  und  ganz  kleinen  Kindern  beladene  Floss  an 
sich,  zwei  bis  drei  andere  Frauen  schwimmcn  neben  inul  bin- 


366         THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ter  demselben.  Sollte  einer  der  Sprosslinge  herunterfallen, 
flugs  ist  er  wieder  aufgefischt  und  auf  das  Floss  gelegt;  die 
gross-eren,  d.  h.  drei-  bis  fiinfjahrigen  Kinder,  passiren  den 
Fluss  rittlings  auf  dem  Nacken  der  Mutter. 

Die  Lenguas  sind  wie  die  iibrigen  Chacostamme  Mono- 
gamisten.  Mit  eintretender  Pubertal  verheirathet  sich  der 
junge  Mann,  ohne  besondern  Prlifungen  oder  Formalitaten 
unterworfen  zu  werden;  er  holt  sich  ganz  einfach  bei  einer 
Nachbarhorde  eine  der  mobilen  Schonen,  bringt  sie  zu  sei- 
nem  Lager,  wo  von  Verwandten  und  Hordengenossen  ein 
hollischer  mit  dem  Namen  Gesang  bezeichneter  Larm  voll- 
fUhrt  wird,  der  bis  zum  frlihen  Morgen  dauert  und  die  ein- 
zigen  Hochzeitsfeierlichkeiten  bildet.  Die  Lenguas  haben 
im  Allgemeinen  das  Einkindersystem  eingeflihrt,  auch  einer 
der  Griinde,  die  das  allmahliche  Aussterben  der  Rasse  her- 
herbeifllhren.  Im  Falle  von  Krankheiten  wenden  dieselben 
alle  moglichen  Quack-  und  Sangproceduren  an,  ahnlich  wie 
bei  den  Guanas,  nur  dass  bei  denselben  alle  alteren  Leute 
Medicinmanner  sind,  und  nicht  eine  eigene  Kaste  bilden  wie 
bei  den  Guanas. 

Stirbt  einer  der  Lenguas,  so  wird  er  in  seinen  Wollen- 
poncho  in  aufrecht  kauernder  Stellung  verpackt  und  im 
freien  Felde  begraben,  gewohnlich  nicht  tief  genug,  so  dass 
ofters  hungrige  Fiichse  den  Leichnam  blosslegen  und  ver- 
zehren. 


VILEN  ALS  HEILKUNDIGE  IM  VOLKGLAUBEN  DER 

SUEDSLAVEN. 

VON   DR.    FRIEDRICH   S.   KRAUSS. 

YILEN  sind  Baumgeister  oder  Baumseelen  ihrem  Ur- 
sprunge  nach,  und  in  ausgereifter  Gestalt  Waldfrauen, 
Wald-  und  Flurengeistcr  mit  einem  derart  grossen 
Machtbezirk,  dass  man  sie  fuglich  als  den  lebendigsten  und 
kraftigsten  Ausdruck  des  siidslavischen  Volkglaubens  in 
den  Vordergrund  jeder  auf  den  Glauben  der  Siidslaven  bezug- 
lichen  Erorterung  zu  setzen  bemussigt  ist.  Wenn  einmal  der 
Vilenglaube  in  alien  seinen  Entwicklungs-undErscheinungs- 
formen  klargelegt  sein  wird,  so  ist  dann  der  grossere — und 
zugleich  wichtigste — Theil  des  ursprunglichen  Glaubens  der 
siidslavischen  Volker,  der  siidslavischen  Mythologie — sofern 
man  sich  dieser  gewohntcn,  doch  nicht  ganz  zutreffenden 
Bezeichnung  bedienen  mag — fiir  die  Wissenschaft  der  Volk- 
und  Volkerkunde  endgiltig  blossgelegt. 

In  meinem  Buche  „Volkglaubeund  religioser  Branch  der 
Siidslaven,"  (vorwiegend  nach  eigenen  Ermittelungen, 
Miinster  i.  W.  1890)  S.  57-109,  wagte  ich  den  Versuch 
den  siidslavischen  Vilenglauben  in  seinen  Grund- 
ziigen  auseinanderzusetzen.  Das  wichtigste  aus  meinen 
umfangreichen  Sammlungen  siidslavischer  Volkiiberliefer- 
ungen  fand  darin  seine  Verwerthung.  Was  ich  bis  nun  an 
weiteren  Stoffen  iiber  Vilen  aufbrachte,  alterirt  meine  ge- 
druckten  Darlegungen  nicht,  ist  jedoch  nach  jeder  Richtung 
hingeignet,  in  wissenswerthen  Einzclnheiten  das  Gevvonnene 
zu  bereichern,  d,  h.  unsere  Einsicht  in  die  Materie  zu  ver- 
tiefen. 

Von  den  Vilen  in  ihrer  Eigenschaft  als  Heilkiinstlerinnen 

oder  Aerztinnen,  bzw.   als    Lehrerinnen  der  volkthiimlichen 

Heilkunde,  handelte  ich  in  meinen  gcnannten   Buche  auf  S. 

100 ff.  Dort  wird  auch dernoch  praktizirenden  Zauberin  Vaja  in 

Koprivnica  bei  Pleternica  (in  der  Pcjzcgacr  (iespannschaft  in 

Slavonien)  des  breiteren  gedacht,  die  sich  fiir  cine  vSchiilcrin 

der  Vilen  ausgiebt,  fiir  eine  solche  beim  Volke  auchwirklich 

3»;7 


365         THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

gilt,  und  sich  einer  zauberarztlichen,  zahlreichen  Klientel  er- 
freut.  Ich  habe  fiir  die  Frau  eine  rege  Theilnahme  bewahrt, 
die  iibrigens  auf  Gegenseitigkeit  beruht,\vie  ich  jabei  meinen 
bauerlichen  Landleuten  in  der  alten  Heimath  durchaus  gut 
angeschriebenbin.  (Die  Bauern  trugen  mir  gar  ihre  Vertret- 
ung  fiir  den  kroatischen  Landtag  an,  welche  Ehreund  Wiirde 
ich  ablehnte,  weil  sie  mit  meiner  mehr  friedlichen,  wissen- 
schaftlichen  Thatigkeit  in  keinem  Einklange  stande.)  Im 
November  v.  J.  (1892)  liess  ich  durch  meine  in  Pleternica 
wohnhafte  wSchwester  der  alten  Vaja  meinen  Gruss  entbieten 
iind  sie  um  weitere  Mittheilungen  betreffs  der  Vilen  er- 
SLichen.  Die  Antwort  traf  fast  umgehend  ein.  AUes  ware 
beim  alten  geblieben,  nur  sei  der  Vaja  eine  neue  Concur- 
rentin  erstanden,  die  Bauerin  Jula,  die  sich  gleichfalls  der 
Gunst  der  Vilen  zn  erfreuen  beginne. 

Den  Brief  schrieb  ein  erwachsenes  Dorfmadchen.  Wah- 
rend  die  alteren  Leute  noch  illiterat  sind,  kann  die  jiingcre 
Generation  durchgehends  lesen  und  schreiben.  Das  ist  im 
Grossen  und  Ganzen  der  Vortheil  eines  vierjahrigen  Be- 
suches  der  Volksschule,  im  iibrigen  bleibt  der  Bauer  seinen 
iiberkommenen  Sitten,  Brauchen  und  iinchristlichen  religi- 
osen  Anschauungen  treu.  Der  Brief  meiner  Correspondentin 
ist  natiirlich  unorthographish,  die  Darstellung  zerrissen  und 
sprunghaft  und  auch  das  eine  Frauenhand  verratende  Post- 
scriptum  fehlt  nicht.  Der  Brief  verdient,  abgesehen  davon 
dass  er  uns  ein  neues  authentisches  Probchen  wirklicher 
Volkssprache  der  Serbendarbietet,  seines  lehrreichen  Inhalts 
halber  einen  wortlichen  Abdruck  mit  einer  fortlaufenden 
Zwischenzeilenverdeutschung  nebst  Erlauterungen.  Ange- 
sichts  des  einfachen  jeden  Redeschmuckes  baren  Satzbaues, 
ist  der  Sinn  der  Rede,  trotz  der  verschiedenen  Wort- 
stellungen  im  Deutschen,  leicht  verstandlich,  so  dass  von 
einer  freien  Verdeutschung,  um  Raum  zu  ersparen,  ohne 
weiters  Umgang  genommen  werden  kann.  ' 

Zum  Verstandniss  des  Briefes  schicke  ich  voraus,  dass 
die  Bewohner  von  Koprivnica  ihrer  Confession  nach  Katho- 
liken,  der  Sprache  nach  Serben  sind,  und  dass  im  Dorfe  noch 
vorwiegend  die  Institution  der  Hausgemeinschaft  zur  Kraft 
besteht.  Frau  Julie,  iiber  die  das  Schreiben  berichtet,  ist 
eine   hysterische   Person  die  an    Hallucinationen  leidet  und 


THE   VILAS  OF  THE   SOUTH  SLAVS.  369 

auch  by  ihren  Leuten  zuweilen  fur  verruckt  gehalten  wird. 
Die  Verrucktheit  aber  tritt  nach  dem  Volksg-lauben  jcdes- 
mal  ein,  wenn  Vilen  von  einem  Menschen  Besitz  nehmen. 
Die  Hallucinationen  Jiilien's  stimmen  folgerichtig-  mit  den 
eingewurzelten  Glaubensvorstellungen  dor  iibrigen  Volks- 
genossen  gleichen  Bildunggrades  vollkommen  uberein. 
Diese  Erscheinung  ist  nicht  vereinzelt.  Im  Jahre  1S77,  als 
ich  noch  Gymnasialschuler  war,  besuchte  ich  in  den  Ferien 
in  Zagragje,  drei  Stunden  von  Pleternica  gegen  die  Save  zu, 
die  Schmiedbauerin,  die  in  ihren  Hallucinationen  mit  der 
Mutter  Gottes  Unterredungen  pflog,  und  die  Brandmale 
Christi  an  ihrem  Leibe  zeigte.  DieserFrau  rentirte  sich  das 
Geschaft  noch  besser  als  der  alten  Vaja.  Orthodoxe  Priester 
der  Serben  meiner  Heimath  pflegen  noch  gegenwartig  an 
Festtagen  vor  den  Kirchenthiiren  aus  Kranken  den  Teufel 
durch  Exorzismen  zu  bannen.  Viele  Bedauernswerthe,  die 
an  Wahnvorstellungen  leiden  oder  thatsachlich  wahnsinnig 
sind,  gelten  als  vom  Teufel  oder  Teufeln  besessen  und  glau- 
ben  auch  selber  daran. 


(i)  Jfcdna    je     vila    na   seljakinju   Julu     Ijuta      bila 

Eine       ist      Vila    auf      Biiuerin        Julie     erziirnt  gewesen, 

sto    joj     nehotice      dijete      pogazila      pa     ju     je     uvijek 
weil    ihr  unwillkiihrlich  das  Kind  niedergetreten  und    sie     ist     immer 

u       glavu  tukla,      da      se      tesko      razbolila.        (2)     U 

in    den  Kopf     geschlagen,  dass  sich    schwer      erkrankte.  In 

bolesti  su      k      njojzi     pet     vili  dolazile. 

der  Krankheit    sind    zu         ihr  fiinf    Vilen     pllegten  zu  kouimen. 

(3)  Ona    rekla      vili,       zasto      oni     nju      tucu       a       [ne] 
Sie     sprach    zur  Vila,  waruin       sie       sie    schlagen  aber    [nicht] 

koju      drugu     zenu      u     kudi,        a        one      su     njoj     rckle: 
welches  andere      Weib      im     Hause,     doch      sie      sind      ihr       gesiigt: 

"druge      nijesu     nama     nista     krive,  da     nje        tucemo!" 

"Andere    nicht  sind      uns      nichts    schuld,  dass     sie    wir  schlagen!" 

(4)  Jula   je    njima   rekla:     "Nemojte  mene     vise       tud, 
Julie    ist      ihnen    gesagt:        Lasst  ah  mich    niclir  zu  schlagen, 

ja      6u      se     za    vas       Bogu      molit!"       (5)    Druge      cetir 
ich   werde   mich    fiir   eiich      zu  (Jott      leten  I"'  Aiidert'         vler 


370  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

vile    su     onu     vilu     molili     za     Julu      petu       da     ju     vise 
Vilen   sind  jene     Vila     gebeten    fiir    Julia  die  fiiofte,   dass  sie   mehr 
ne      tuce. 
nicht  schlage. 

(6)    One     su     sa    Julom     na    jednoj     postelji     spavali. 
Jene  sind  mit     Julien      auf      einem  Bette     geschlafen. 

(7)  Kad  bi  Jula  spavala  onda  zu  i  vile  spavale, 
So  oft  als  Julia  schlief  dann  sind  aiich  die  Vilen  geschlafen, 
a  kat  se  je  Jula  probudila,  onda  su  se  i  vile 
und  wann  sieh  ist  Julia  erwacht,  dann  sind  sich  aucli  die  Vilen 
probudile.  (8)  Jula  ji  pitala,  kako  one  zive.  (9)  One 
erwacht.  Julia    sie     fragte,       wie  sie       leben.  Sie 

su  joj  kazala:  "Mi  bi  dobro  zivile;  da  nas  vuci 
sind  ihr  gesagt:  "Wir  wiirden  gut  lebpn ;  wenn  uns  die  Wolfe 
ne  rastrgaju  u  gori,  nas  bi  vise  bilo  nego 
nicht  zerrissen  im  Hochgebirge,  unserer  wiirde  mehr  sein  als 
drugog  svijeta."  (10)  Jula  im  rekla:  "a  zasto  se  vi 
anderer  Welt  (Leute)."'  Julia  ihnen  sagte:  "Aber  warum  sich  ihr 
ne  sakrijete  od  vuka,  da  on  vas  ne  moze  najci?" 
nicht  versteckt  vor  dem  Wolfe,  dass  er  euch  nicht  kann  finden?" 
(11)  One  su  njoj  na  to  odgovorile,  da  se  one  najbolje 
Sie  sind  ihr  auf  uies  geantvvortet,  dass  sich  sie  am  besten 
mozu,     kad     Ijudi     skale     tesu      i  skalotes        ostave 

mehren,  wann  Manner  Balken  behauen  und  den  Holzabfall  liegen  lassen 

i      ne      presijecu      ga.       (12)    Tu      ji        vuk        ne      vidi. 
und   nicht  durchhacken   ihn.  Da      sie     der  Wolf  nicht    sieht. 

(13)  One   svakoga  covjeka  blagosivljaju,   koji   skalotes    ne 
Sie  jeden       Menschen  segnen,  der  Holzabfalle  nicht 

presijece. 
durehhackt. 

(14)    To     je     tako     glasno      s      Julom     pripovijedanje 
Dies      ist         so  laut        mit      Julien  Erzahlung 

bilo,      konda,      je       ji        bilo  dvajestero      u         sobi. 

gewesen,    als  ob     ist    ihrer    gewesen        an  zwanzig    in  der    Stube. 
(15)    Svijet     se    je      kupio    pot       proror    pa     sluso     Julu 
Die  Leute  sich  sind  gesammelt  unter  das  Fenster  und  horte  zu  Julien 

i        vile        kako     se     razovaraju.     (16)  Osim    Jule     nije 
und    den  Vilen,    wie     sich     unterreden.  Ausser  Julien  nicht  ist 

vile        nitko     mogo    viditi.  (17)  I       vracare      Vaje     vile 
die  Vilen  niemand  gekonnt  sehen.        Und  der  Heilkiinstlerin  Vaja  Vilen 


THE   VILAS  OF  THE   SOUTH  SLAVS.  371 

dojdii     cesdc         vra(^ari         Vaji     u       pohode     i       stogod 
kommen   ofters  ziir  Heilkiinstlerin  Vaja   in   die  Besuche  und   was  iiniDer 
de     bit,     to     oni     njoje     kazu,     i      koliko       6e      bolesnika 
wird  sein,    das     sie      ihr         sagen,   uml    wieviel  werden       Kranke 
kakove      bolest      koji      ima      i  kakvima      travama      i 

was  fiir    Krankheit    wer       hat     und       mit  was  fiir        Krauterii    und 
da       ji     lijeci,     oni     njoj     sve     kazu. 
dass  sie  [sie]  heile,     sie       ihr      alles    sagen. 

(i8)  Vile      sii      volo    lijepe   samo      imaju      volo     mali 

Vilen    sind      sehr      schou      nur        habeu  sie    sehr     kleine 
nos. 

Nase. 

(19)  Kad  je      bila      bolestna  onda  je  uvik         ludila, 

Als    ist  sie  gewesen   krank     dann  ist  iuiraer  sie  niirrisch  ge- 

uvik     je     Anu     Vasebojcid     krivila,      da      se     je     ona 
wesen,  iramer  ist    Anna       Vasebojcic    beschuldigt,  dass  sich   ist      sie 
pretvorila    u       vilu       pa     da     je      nju     tukla.     (20)  Jednu 
verwandelt     in    eiue  Vile  und    dass  ist        sie      geschlagen.  Eine 

nod     je      doslo      pet    vila    k  njoje.     (21)  Onda   su   joj    ka- 
Naeht  ist  gekommen  fiiuf  Vilen    zu    ihr.  Dann   sind    ihr     ge- 

zale:      "Julo     ajde     ti      s      nama      pa        dems        ti      kazati 
sagt:      "Julia,  komm   du     mit        uns        und  wir  werden   dir       sagen 
znanje     svakako."     (22)  "Ja      du      idi       s       vama,     ako   mi 
Wissenschaft  alJerlei."  "leh  werde  gehen   rait     each,      wenn  mir 

pokazete        vracati,         ko   sto   ste   ucili         majstoricu." 
zelgt    Ileilkunst  auszuiiben,  wie  was  seid  gelehrt  die  Ilaudwerkerfrau.'' 
(23)  One     su      njoj     kazale:     "Kako       bi       mi     tebe     ucili? 

Sie     sind       ihr        gesagt:        '"Wie    wiirden    wir     diili     lehren? 

Mi       nismo      ucili         ni  majstoricu  ved      nase 

Wir  nicht  sind  gelehrt,  auch  nicht  die  Haudwerkerfrau,  sondorn  uusere 

strine      i       tetke." 
Muhmeii  und   Tauten." 

(24)  Ona     se     jednu     vecer       obukla         i  obukla 

Sie     sich      eines      Abends    angekleidet    und      angezogen 

kudmen    i    opanke.     (25)  Onda     ju     pitala       druzina:    "Julo 
Lodenrock  und  Topanken.  Dann      sie    gofragt  das  fJosinde:  "Julia. 

kut     dss      sada?"      a     ona    kaze:       "zovu      mc        vile,      da 
wohin  wirst  jetzt  ?"'     und      sie      sagt:     "Sie  rufen  niioh  die  V'ih'ii,  class 

idem       s     njima        il        da      idem     il     da         du         izgubit 
ich  gehe  mit  ihnen,  entweder  dass  ich  gehe  oder  dass  Ich  werde  verliert'ii 


372  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

glavu."    (26)  Onda  je        dosla  ka       svekrvi  u       brdo 

das  Haupt."  Dann    ist  gekomraen  zur  Schwiegermutter  ins  Gebirge 

pa  je  kazala:  "vi  mene  pricekajte,  ja  idem  svoju 
und     ist     gesagt:     "Ihr       mich  erwartet,         ich      gehe      meine 

Maru   prigledat"      a         vile  su     njoj  kazale:    "sad    ajde 

Marie      besuchen"'        und    die  Vilen    sind     ihr    gesagt:    "Jetzt    geh 

s  nama  u  sumu  a  kat  se  vratis  kuci,  onda 
mit  uns  in  den  Wald  und  wann  dich  zuriickkehrt  heim,  dann 
idi  k  svojoj  Mari.'  (27)  Kad  je  dosla  u  sumu  onda 
geh  zu    deiner     Marie."  AIs    ist  gekommen   in  den  Wald,  dann 

je     s      njima       stajala       pod      bukvom       a       k      njoj      su 
ist  mit    ihnen        gestanden      unter        Buche        und    zu       ihr      sind 

dosle      njezina     mama,         svekrva         i         majstorica 
gekommen    ihre  Mutter,   Schwiegermutter  und       Handwerkerfrau 

Vaja,      pa      su      je      zvale,      da        ide        s     njima     kuci. 
Vaja,       und    sind    sie     gerufen,    dass    sie  gehe    mit    ihnen        heim. 

(28)  "Idite     vi     kuc,     one     kazu.     (29)  Ako     vi     ne     budete 
"Gehet    Ihr    heim,      sie        sagen.  Wenn    Ihr  nioht    werdet 

isle      kuc     da      ce     mene  jos     preko   vecih     brda     vuci 
gegangen  heim,  dass  werden  mich  noch    iiber    grossere  Berge  schleppen 

i  da  6e  mene  jos  gorje  tuci."  (30)  One  su  otisle 
und  dass  werden  mich  noch  arger    schlagen."  Jene  sind  gegangen 

kudi        a  vile  su       nju         odvele       u      vinograde, 

heim        aber        die  Vilen    sind      sie        weggefiihrt    in  die  Weinberge. 

(31)  Onda     su    je      tile       odvest      na     Seoce      a      ona    je 
Dann    sind   sie    gewollt  wegfiihren  auf    Seoce     aber     sie      ist 

njima     kazala:      "nemojte,      ako       znate        za      Boga,     vec 
ihnen  gesagt:        "Lasst  ab,      wenn    Ihr  wisst     um      Gott,    schon 

me   jako      bole        noge       a      vec     ce     skoro     biti      mrak." 
mich  sehr  schmerzen  die  Fiisse  und  schon  wird    bald        sein       Dunkel- 

(32)  Onda   su   joj      dale      tri      trave:     cubar,       bujad         i 
heit."  Dann  sind  ihr  gegeben  drei     Krauter:  Saturei,  Farrenkraut  und 
streljanu   pa   su  joj   kazale:     "Kad     bude     do  zore 
Pfeilwurz     und  sind  ihr  gesagt:    "Wann  wird  sein  bis  zur  Morgenrothe 
dva     sata     onda     nek     te          majstorica          Vaja     kupa     u 
zwei  Stunden,  dann      soil    dich   die  Handwerkerfrau     Vaja      baden    in 

toj       travi      i      nek       donese       sa     luke     vode."     {;^s)  A 
diesem  Kraute  und  soil  herbeibringen  vom  Hain    Wasser."  Aber 

ona      je     njima     kazala:     "Otkale       vi     znadete     za     taj 
sie        ist        ihnen       gesagt:     "Von  wannen  Ihr        wisst        um  diesen 


THE   VILAS  OF  THE   SOUTH  SLAVS.  373 

bunar?"     (34) ''Kako     mi     ne      bi       znale     za    taj      bunar. 
Brimueu":'"'  '"Wie      wir  uicht  wiinleii  wissen  urn  diesen  Brumien. 

kat     se     mi      uvik     tud       kupamo      i       cesljamo  ?' 
wann  uns    wir     immer    dort  bailen        und       kainmen?" 

(35)  Ona   je    njima  kazala:  "Joj,    kako    me       bole       ruke!" 

Sie    ist      ihnen      gesagt:  "Wehe.  wie    mioh  schmer/en  die  Hiin- 

(36)  Kako  te  ne  bi  bolile  ruke,  kat  ti  je 
de!      Wie     dieh  nicht  wiirden  schuierzeu    die  Hiinde,        wann  dir  ist 

mama      na  ruke       metala     pijavice!"      (37)  "Kako     vi 

die  Mutter  auf    die  Hiinde      gelegt        Blutegel?"  "Wie    Ilir 

znate  moju      mater?"      (38)  "Kako    mi        ne         bi 

wisst  (kennt)     meine      Mutter?"'  "Wie      wir     nicht    wiirden 

znale  tvoju  mater,  na  vrh  je  sela;  zove  se 
kenneu  deine  Mutter;  an  der  Spitze  ist  des  Dorfes ;  sie  heisst  sich 
Janja.     (39)  Mi     uvik  dojdemo  k     njoj     u      sobu 

Janja.  Wir  immer    pflegen  zu  kommen    zu     ihr        in   die  Stube 

pa     se     kot       pedi       grijemo." 
und  uns    bei    dem  Ofen    warmen." 

(40)  Onda    kad    je   Jula     ve6       malo       ozdravila,     one 
Darauf     als     ist   Julie    schon  ein  wenig       genesen.        sie 

su       dosle      k   njoje   pa  su  joj  kazale:    (4r)  "Ajde   Julo   s 
sindgekommen  zu     ihr    und  sind  ihr    gesagt:  ''Konun  Julie  mit 

nama     k     majstorici     Vaji!"     (42)  Kat     su      dosli      k    Vaji 
una  zur  Hand werkerf ran  Vaja!"  Als    sind  gekommen  zur  Vaja 

a     ona       nije        bila        kot      kude       a      one     njoj     kazu: 
aber    sie    nicht  ist    gewesen      zu       Ilause     und     jene      ihr       sagen: 

(43)  "Vaja  je        valjda        kot   tvoje   strine    Stane;    ona    je 
"Vaja  ist  wahrscheinlich  bei   deiner  Muhnie    Stana;       die     ist 

na    umoru."      (44)   Vile      su      se       zv^ale:      jednoj  je      bilo 
im    Sterben."  Die  Vilen   sind   sich  geheissen  :  der  einen  iat  gewesen 

ime  Kata,  drugoj  Manda,  tre<5oj      Jela, 

der  Name   Katharine,  der    anderen        Magdalene,      tier  dritten    llelcnc, 

cetvrtoj     Jula     a        petoj        Ana. 
der  vierten     Julie  und     der  fiinften  Anna. 

(45)  Vaja   je    meni    pripovidala,    kako   su    nju     vile        u 
Vaja     ist      rnir  erziililt,  wie    sind    sie   die  Vilen   In 

sumu      vodile     i      nju     ucile       svijet       lijecit,     (46)  Zato 
den  Wald  gefiihrt  und    sie      golehrt  die  Leute    zu  hoilen.  Durum 


374  THE   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS   OF   ANTHROPOLOGY. 

ona    za       vile 
sie       fiir  die  Vilen 

nikako     zlo     do^ 

keinerlei  Uebel     zutragen     [nicht]     konue. 


Bogu      se 

molit 

mora, 

da      im      [se" 

zu  Gott  sich 

betea 

muss, 

class  ihnen  [sich] 

odit      fne] 

more. 

^  V I  a  lit  e  V  xtxt  Q  e  n* 


Zu  Satz  1.    Vergl.  Krauss:  Volksglaube  und  religioser  Brauch  der  Sudslaven,  p.  7",  92. 
"      "     2.    Ausnahmsweise  ihrer  fiinf,  sonst  nur  drei.    Vergl.  a.  a.  O.  S.  92. 
'•      "     4.    Diese  Captatio  benevolentise  geht  darauf  zurvick,  dass  man  in  neuerer  Zeit  die 
Vilen  fiir  gottverlassene  Geister  ansieht,  auf  denen  ein  Bann  ruht,  der  durch  Gebete 
wie  fiir's  SeelenheU  Verstorbener  behoben  werden  konne. 

Zu  Satz  5.  Richtig  grammatisch  und  logisch :  onu  petu  vilu.  Die  aufiallige  Wortstellung 
nur  fiir's  Auge ;  denn  die  Erzahlerin  hilft  mit  Geberdenspiel  nach  und  hebt  das  Wort 
petu  mit  besonderem  Nachdruck  hervor. 

Zu  Satz  6.  Die  Vilen  sind  Julien  nicht  in  den  Leib  gefahren,  sonst  ware  sie  voUig  wahn- 
sinnig  geworden.  Sie  behelligen  sie  bloss  durch  ihre  leidige  Gegenwart  und  ver- 
sauern  ihr  das  Leben. 

Zu  Satz  8  u.  9.  Die  Frage  wirft  Julie  nicht  etwa  aus  folkloristischer  Wissbegierde  auf,  son- 
dernijgewohnheitsmassig,  wie  man  sonst  Jemand  bei  der  Begegnung  fragt:  'Wie 
gehts  dir?  Was  machst  du?  Wie  lebst  du?'  Die  Antwort  der  Vilen  stimint  mit  der 
Mittheilung  im  'Volksglauben'  a.  a.  O.  S.  103  liberein.  Bemerkenswerth  ist  jedoch, 
dass  es  Vilen  Ueben,  sich  zuweilen  in  Wolfe  zu  verwandeln.  Bei  den  Siidslaven  be- 
deuten  Wolfe  einen  bosen  Ausgang,  entgegen  dem  deutschen  Volksglauben ;  vergl. 
z.  B.  Riid.  Reichel  in  der  Zeitschrift  f.  d.  deutschen  Unterricht,  7.  Jahrg.  S.  500:  'Zum 
Angang  des  Wolfes.'  Ferner  Dr.  L.  Hopf:  'Thierorakel  imd  Orakelthiere.'  Stuttg. 
1888,  S.  32.  Ueber  den  Wolf  als  den  Feind  schwediscfier  Waldgeister  vergl.  W.  Mann- 
hardt:  "Der  Baumkultus  der  Germanen  und  ihre  Nachbarstamme."  Berlin  1875, 
S.  135,  wo  eine  Skogsra  mit  ihren  Kindern  von  Wolfen  zerfleischt  wird. 

Svijet  hier  wie  das  lat.  mundus,  sowohl  fiir  'Leute'  als  fiir  'Welt',  mit  Bezug  auf 
Menschen.  Narod  (Volk)  ware  in  dieser  Verbindung  unstatthaft;  denn  auch  die 
Vilen  sind  in  ihrer  Art  ein  Volk  nach  dem  BegrifiFe  der  Bauern. 

Zu  Satz,ll  u.  12.  Die  Frage  Juliens  bleibt  nach  der  Antwort  der  Vilen  noch  immer  oflFen 
fiir  den  Bauer,  fiir  uns  nicht.  Die  Wolfe  sind  eben  machtigere  Waldgeister  als  die 
zartgebauten  JWaldfraulein.  Der  Zug,  dass  die  Vilen  in  den  nicht  kleingeschla- 
genen  Holzabfallen  (der  Rinde  vor  allem)  Schutz  und  Zuflucht  vor  ihren  Verfolgem 
finden,  ist  neu  fiir  den  siidslavischen  Volksglauben,' soweit  ich  ihn  bei  der  Abfassung 
meines  obgedachten  Buches  kannte,  doch  der  Sache  nach  gewiss  urspruenglich  und 
alt.  Wenn  der  Baum  auch  gefallt  ist,  so  kann  der  Diimon  im  Stumpfen,  den  Wur- 
zeln  und  der  Baumrinde,  die  bei  der  Daubenverfertigung  in  Wegfall  kommt,  sein 
Leben  weiterfristen ;  denn  das  Kleid  bleibt  ihm  erhalten.  Hochst  zutrefiFende  Paral- 
lellen  hiefiir  bietet  Mannhardt  a.  a.  O.  S.  83  S.  Wenn  sich  die  Vilen  in  ihr  Gehause 
wieder  zuriickziehen,  werden  sie  fiir  den  Wolf  naturlich  unsichtbar. 

Zu  Satz  13.  Das  Segrnen  der  Wohlthater  ganz  wie  im  germanischen  Volksglauben.  Vergl. 
Mannhardt  a.  a.  O. 

Zu  Satz  14.  JuUe  spricht  selbstverstandlich  auch  fiir  die  Vilen  mit  verstellter  Stimme, 
einer  sog.  Bauchstimme.  Die  tobstichtige  Julie  weilt  allein  in  der  abgesperrten  Stube 
und  unter  Grauen  und  Beben  horchen  unterm  Fenster  kauernd  die  Leute  dem  wil- 
den  Geschrei,  das  aus  dem  Hause  herausdiing^t. 

Zu  Satz  17  u.  18.  Zwei  zur  Erlauterung  eingeschobene  Satze.  Wir  wtirden  nach  unserer 
Auffassung  uns  so  vlelleicht  ausdriicken:  "Auch  Vajabekommt  zu  Zeiten  ihre  bosen 
hysterischen  Krampfe  und  Anfalle  unter  sonambulen  (hellseherischen)  Erscheinun- 
gen,  die  eine  entsprechende  Deutung  erfahren." 


THE   VILAS   OF  THE   SOUTH   SLAVS.  375 

Der  Mittelsfttz  miisste  logis^h  und  piimmutisch  korrekt  lauten :  "I  koliko  ie  bo- 
lesnika  biti  i  kakove  (v  bolesti  ko  iiiiati,"  n.  s.  w.  Die  hier  KeruRte  Sprachschlamperel 
ist  wahrend  des  Vortrages  einer  lebhaft  Kestikulireuden  Ei-ziihlerin  unanstossig. 
Wir  thaten  Unrecbt,  wollten  wir  unsere  Biicherdiction  zum  Massstabe  bei  der  IJeur- 
theilung  echt  volbthumlicher  Schildcrungweise  nehmen.  Unsere  Regelmassigkeit 
im  Ausdruck  und  SaUbau  ist  bloss  da;*  hlrgebniss  [einer  langeu  Sfhulung,  siizusagen 
die  zur  Kegel  erhobene  Ausnahme  der  schonen  Erzahluugswoise  des  I'ugebildelen. 
Die  Krankheiten  entstehen  durch  deu  Kinthiss  der  "bosen  Winde"  und  der 
Waldgeister.  Darum  kounen  Vilen  gerade  in  diesem  Falle  ricbtig  prophezeien  und 
die  Gegenmittel  nambafl  macben. 

Zu  Satz  18.  Eine  kleiiie  Nase  ist  nacb  den  Scbonbeitsbegriffen  der  Siidslavinnen  ein  Vor- 
zug.  In  den  zabllosen  typiscben  Scbilderungen  der  Frauenscbonheit  (im  Guslaren- 
liedei  ist  niemals  von  der  Nase  die  IJedc.  Die  nacb  dein  Volksglaubeu  als  ein 
Frauenzimmer  umherstrolchcnde  Pest  t  Kuga)  bat  eine  auffaUig  spitze  Nase  und  ein 
aufgerissenes  Maul.  Ein  scbones  %Veib  zeicbnet  sicb  dagegen  durcb  ein  (Stumpf-) 
Nascben  und  ein  kleines  Miindcben  aus. 

Zu  Satz  19.  Ana  Vasebojiii',  ricbtiger:  Ana  Vase  Bojfi(Ja  =  Anna  de8  Basilius  Boji^ii?,  zum 
Unterschied  einer  anderen  Anna  nus  der  Sippe  Boji^ic  im  solben  Dorfe.  Das*  sich 
gewisse  Frauenzimmer  zu  Vilen,  bezw.  Hexon  oder  aucb  Wiirwolfe  verwandeln 
konnen  und  umgokebrt,  ist  als  ein  internationaler  Glaubi-  wobl  bekiinnt.  Ein 
solcher  Verdacbt  ist  mitunter  fiir  den  Betrolfenen  verbangnissvoll.  Vgl.  Krauss, 
Volksglaube  u.  s.  w.,  S.  121. 

Zu  Satz  21.  Unter  allerlei  Wissenscbaft  ist  Zauber  und  Wabrsagekunst  nebst  Heilkunde 
zu  versteben.  Julie  aber  will  vornebmlicb  die  nutzbringende  Heilkunde  erlernen. 
Die  "Majstorica"  ( Meisterin  i ,  d.  h.  Ilandwerkerfrau,  ist  die  Jiingerin  anderer  Vilen 
als  der  Qualgeister  Juliens.  Die  Bezeicbnung  "Mubmen  und  Tauten"  neueren  Ur- 
sprungfs,  denn  alle  Vilen  sind  "Scbwestern." 

Zu  Satz  24.  Fiir  gewobnlich  gebt  im  Dorfe  die  Bauerin  biirfuss,  mit  Hemd  und  weissem 
Leinenkittel  bekleidet,  herum.  Dass  Julie  den  Lodeurock  und  die  Opankcn  anlegt, 
zeigt  den  Leuten,  dass  sie  die  Absicht  babe,  ausser  Dorfes  zu  geben. 

Zu  Satz  26.  Die  Scbwiegermutter  bait  sicb  im  Gebirge  im  Mtierhofe  der  Hausgenieinschaft 
auf.    Sie  nennt  ibre  Scbwieger  einfach  beim  Namen  "Marie." 

Zu  Satz  27.  Die  drei  Fraucn  waren  Julien  gefolgt,  um  sie  wieder  heirazugeleiten  ;  da  sie 
aber  nicht  gutwillig  mit  will,  lassen  sie  sie  in  Frieden,  um  bei  den  Vilen  keinen  An" 
stoss  zu  erregen. 

Zu  Satz  28.    "Sie  sagen,"  die  Vilen  namlicb,  durch  den  Mund  Juliens. 
"      "Si.    "Seoce"  (Dorfcben),  Name  eines  derzeit  ziemlich  grossen  Dorfes  im  Pozegaer 
Gebirge,  von  Koprivnica  zwei  bis  drei  Stunden  entfernt. 

Zu  Satz  34.  Der  Brunnen  im  Hain  oberbalb  Koprivnica  ist  also  ein  Vilenbruniien.  und 
sein  Wasser  vor  Sonnenaufgang  beilkraftig,  nacbdem  Nacbta  Vilen  dariu  gcbadet 
haben. 

Zu,  Satz  36.  Juliens  Mutter  ist  eben  zur  Wartung  Juliens  nacb  Koprivnica  laus  Pletcrnica) 
gekommen  und  bat  der  Tocbter  Blutcgel  angesetzt.  Blutegel  sind  noch  iiiiiner  ein 
beliebtes  Universalmittel  gegen  Krankheiten. 

Zu  Satz  39.  Ein  ricbtig  erfasster  Zug  der  Waldgeister.  International.  Mannhardt  a.  n.O. 
S.8I.  Anm.:  "Der^Damon  der  Vegetation  erweitert  Rich  zum  Genius  des  VVachs- 
tbums  iiberbaupt,  und  ziebtsicb  im  Ilerbst,  wenn  der  Sturm  das  .Moos-  \md  Hliittcr- 
kleid  der  Baume  zerreis.st,  in  Hof  und  Haus  des  l^mdmanns  zuriiek,  um  bier  als  seg- 
nender  Hausgeist  fiir  Gedeiben  und  \N'acbstbum  zu  wirken  ;  er  kehrt  /u  Wiild  und 
Flur  zuriick,  sobald  er  im  Fruhling  ein  neues  Gewand  Jbekommt  und  seine  Plleg- 
linge,  die  Thiere,  wieder  im  Freien  ibren  Aufentbalt  nehmen." 

Zu  Satz  44.    Ueber  Vilennamen  Biehi-  KrannH  a.  a.  O.,  H.  70. 

Zu  Satz  4.5  u.  46.    Bind  das  Postscriptuiii  der  Berichterstutterin . 


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